


Living Legend : Book 3 : The Long Story

by CassEastham



Series: Living Legend [3]
Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/M, Female Protagonist, Jedi Training, Military, Post-Return of the Jedi, Romance, Space Battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-27
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-03 16:55:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 47
Words: 84,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5299079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassEastham/pseuds/CassEastham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Empire starts moving their chess pieces around and these kidnapping attempts have become too much to ignore. Kess sorts out the skeletons in her own closet and decides it's time to face the Supreme Prophet as well. "The Jedi Apprentice goes for the boss battle!" But Luke isn't ready to let her graduate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. LL3 1 Military Council Meeting

** LL3 1: Military Council Meeting **

Han dashed through the hallways on the Council Building's top floor, dodging a herd of single-purpose droids. He wasn't thinking about the reasons why Leia would have him drop what he was doing to visit her immediately. He wasn't thinking about how much icier her voice sounded this time. It just meant he was in trouble again. He didn't think about any of it until he rounded the corner to the office lobby and saw the crowd.

Leia's expressionless assistant was politely ordering a gaggle of small system Ambassadors to calm down. "The Councilor has received the data and is reviewing its validity now," Winter told the gathering. "She will bring her findings to a Council Meeting as soon as she has something to report." The mirrored eyes of the Alderaan-native focused on Han in the back of the lobby. "Captain," she called to him, offering him the wide office door, "The Councilor awaits you. Please go in."

Han's brow furrowed as he wove through the panicked politicians. There was already a meeting going on inside.

In what Leia had first described as an office too ostentatious for her, the sizable floor, chairs, and couches in front of her desk were making use of themselves. Admirals and Generals littered the room. Chief Commander Mothma stood regally beside the desk and Leia sat behind it. Han snuck to a place to stand beside General Dodonna and listened.

"They should have known it wasn't going to work," General Madine was saying from his seat on one of the couches. "One Star Destroyer against all of Yavin Base? It _had_ to be a separate faction. Or a renegade Captain."

Admiral Ackbar turned his fishy eyes to Madine, "Their failure in kidnapping Lendra, however ill-conceived the attempt was, does not neutralize this threat."

Han leaned to General Dodonna's ear and whispered, "What threat?"

Dodonna's gray eyes remained fixed on whoever was talking and leaned to whisper an answer, but he stopped when Leia stood up in her chair. "The Empire pulled their forces from the Iego, Ossus, Frakkan, and X-Simpe systems." Her voice lowered, "and they're assembling near Mandalore."

Madine sat up straight, "Either they're staging another kidnapping attempt or they're preparing for an attack to wipe out Yavin Base while everyone is here for the Minister of State ceremonies."

Solo cocked a brow. "If they were mustering for an attack, they'd mass on a system that we wouldn't be watching. Kadaan would be an idiot if he thought we didn't have spies in the Mandalore System."

"Maybe Kadaan _is_ an idiot." Madine shrugged his hands, "He did just send a single Star Destroyer to attack our primary base."

Admiral Drayson croaked optimistically from a chair, "I'd like to think he simply realized how much work it was to keep protecting those systems."

General Dodonna's bearded jaw dropped. " _Retreating_?" He shook his head and crossed his arms. "It would take a lot more to convince me that the Empire is retreating."

Drayson shrugged his bulky shoulders. "Palpatine is no longer on the throne. It's possible that Kadaan has a more reasonable character."

Han's eyeballs rolled away and Leia commented on his expression. "He has a point. Kadaan has held on to his systems as best he could, but hasn't tried to attain any new ones. I don't think he has the thirst for power as Palpatine did."

"Not a thirst for power," Rieekan put in heavily, "A thirst for apprentices. With Lendra in hiding, Kadaan has ample time to prepare for the next kidnapping." His voice rose, "And I don't think he's going to stop when she graduates. His actions have the flavor of a personal vendetta."

Ackbar put out a suggestion. "Jedi Skywalker faced Lord Vader to end the same type of pursuit. Why doesn't Skywalker send Lendra to face Kadaan?"

General Madine shook his head with a dark grin. "He's not going to risk losing her like that."

Drayson tried to hide a suggestive chuckle.

Mothma, who had stood quietly aside to listen up to this point, turned her shoulders to Madine. "Jedi Skywalker has dedicated his life to rebuilding the Jedi Guild, General. Please do not be so quick to question his efforts."

Madine smiled at his lap. "I don't question them at all, Chief Commander." He raised his eyes to meet hers, "In fact, in light of his dedication over the years, I'm _hoping_ the rumors are true."

Mothma raised an eyebrow at him. "Rumors?"

Leia's eyes shot to the Mothma's innocent face. The Chief Commander was pretending ignorance so she could take the temperature of the Military Council on the subject. They didn't disappoint her.

General Madine shifted in his seat. "Rumor has it that Jedi Skywalker and Lieutenant Lendra have formed a, eh, not-so-platonic friendship."

Han folded an arm across his chest and covered his eyes with the other hand.

"There is no sign of misconduct," Ackbar put in quickly, "Even the tabloids struggle to infer anything beyond professionalism."

Drayson added. "Commander Skywalker sent up a request to transfer her back to Gold Group before they left." He shook his head. "I think he's simply overworking her for the Jedi Training of it."

Admiral Sikey arched her brow. "Whatever his logical intent, he's certainly _enjoying_ it." Eyes moved to her. She added to explain. "I have personally seen him laugh more and more frequently over the last few months."

Leia blinked twice at them all. "Now Luke's in trouble for _laughing_?" Her tone brought many in the room to gurgle up a chuckle at the absurdity of all this. Leia spread an easy palm in Admiral Sikey's direction. "After all these years, he has a fellow Jedi and it has boosted his spirits. That is all."

Han let out a deep breath through his nose. It was all over the grapevine how she turned in her lightsaber, but there were a dozen guesses what that meant. Only a handful of people knew the truth, even fewer knew that it started with Kess going off the deep end about the Skywalker bloodline. Leia was hiding her concern well, but both Solos secretly hoped this trip would give the reluctant couple a chance to work out their differences and get back to the part about getting this training done.

Madine glanced over his shoulder at Han's huff/ "You know more details?"

Han's eyes shot to him with a whine, " _Of course_ we know more! He's _family!_ "

Leia called out evenly, "They _are_ close friends, but Luke's dedication to the Guild far outweighs any friendship they've cultivated. His priorities have _not_ wavered and he will _not_ jeopardize her training." She motioned to Ackbar to answer his earlier query. "Luke will send her to face Kadaan if he feels it is necessary, but that's up to her _Jedi Master_ , not _us_."

"Why don't we ask _him_?" Sikey looked at the Councilor with disappointment and disbelief. " _Where are they_?"

All eyes went to Leia for an answer. But the question was not about _where_ they were. Nobody cared. It was, 'what were they doing there _alone_.' More than one person noticed that Skywalker didn't take his faithful droid with him, an action that was so unlike him that it called more attention than expected.

Luke worked very hard to keep the grapevine from assuming anything, especially since Luke was working so hard to _prevent_ anything. But the willingness to sacrifice his life to save hers stirred the rumors into a tornado, and Luke wasn't here to prove them wrong.

Leia didn't know how to pacify the Alliance's suspicions any more than she already had, and her worry over the present state of the pair didn't make things any simpler. Leia didn't know what else she could spin.

Mothma watched her a moment and stepped up to take over before anyone else noticed. "The training of a Jedi Knight is more complex than any of us can comprehend. Jedi Skywalker needed her complete focus on a delicate set of lessons. The duties of Rogue Group and the risks of another kidnapping were affecting her training too greatly. Luke Skywalker's priority is rebuilding the Jedi Guild and he can only do that one trainee at a time." She looked around the room to them, nodding with honesty, "Of course they've become close, for they are the only two Jedi in the galaxy to understand the other." Her voice softened to the gentleness of unquestioned command. "The 'rumors' shall henceforth reflect that."

Heads that didn't bow at the scolding nodded with obedience.

Admiral Ackbar spoke quietly, "And what of the Empire's movements?"

The Chief Commander gave him a quiet smile. "We will take our new Jedi's advice. Ground all fighter groups for complete repairs and activate all ground troops for training exercises. You should all review the new data and analyze it individually for theories on Kadaan's next move. Councilor Solo, prepare a treaty proposal for each of the systems the Empire has abandoned. Admiral Drayson, please proceed with Lieutenant Lendra's transfer back to Gold Group."

Voices muttered the default, "Yes, Chief Commander," and, after a silent pause, bodies stood and began to filter from the room.

Madine tried to get Han's attention, but Han glanced back at Leia. His wife jerked her head in a silent gesture of, 'I'll talk to you about it later'.

Leia watched Han turn away. When the Admirals and Generals all moved out the door, she looked at Mothma. The Chief Commander watched the small crowd mingle with others in the lobby in calculating thought.

When enough of them were gone, Leia whispered, "I'll inform Luke about—

"No." Mothma shook her head and half-turned, whispering low enough for no one else to hear, "Let them be alone."

 


	2. LL3 2 The Story of the Second Death Star

** LL3 2: The Story of the Second Death Star **

Alone.

With her.

It was like the clearing, only better. There were no ranks and no uniforms, no pilots or repair, no politicians or roommates, not even droids. There were no NewsNet cams to watch them grab a bite in South Base. No one peeked in the hallway to notice she left his barracks by 20:00. No one knew they were on Dagobah; and even if they did, no one knew where Dagobah _was_. Only Leia knew how to reach him and she wasn't going to comm unless she absolutely had to.

Luke and Kess were as alone as they were ever going to get.

With her concussion still healing and forearm still in a cast, he didn't order any physical exercise. With her thoughts still stopping mid-sentence in the shock and fear that she'd turned to the dark side (despite that she was already back from it) he didn't order any Alter or Sensing exercises either. With these precious few days free from the need of calendar or chrono, Luke decided the best thing they could do right now was _nothing_.

Last night, he served as her anchor so she could work through all those old dark corners in her soul, and she did, but she almost yanked him out of the ground and pulled him to the dark side with her. Luke was so tired of waiting, so teased to the cusp of frustration. He was a Jedi but he was still human; he was still a man. And with the privacy of this planet, in the hot, dark, luxurious quiet of Dagobah, Luke was ready to dive right into her.

This time, it wasn't Obi-Wan's interruption to stop them, and it wasn't Luke to brush it off with the duty of command or training. Instead, he told her something he should have never admitted and just let her call it.

Then he waited, breathless and powerless, torn completely in two about what he wanted her to do next. And when her body slipped out of his hands, his lust raged with anger, but his heart leapt with joy.

They were in the same skiff about it, he realized. Letting that attraction fester in the dark turned into a scary monster for them both, a monster they could hardly control. But the moment he shined a light on it and whispered the truth, _'I want more than now,'_ it was like handing her a lightsaber so she could beat back the rest of the dark side on her own. Her decision to slip away from his fingers declared that she wanted more than now too.

She wanted more than just the living legend; she wanted the farm boy.

When Luke realized what it truly meant, his mind fell backwards into that gorgeous strawberry soda now fizzing on the Force and just _bathed_ in it.

Today, Kess was back to her original self, floating on the bubbly surface with jokes and giggles and playful complaining. Neither of them bothered to block anything anymore, nor did they feign blindness to what the other emitted. Emotion flowed like a spring breeze, without any walls or windbreaks. Eyes sparkled like devious diamonds, but no longer diverted to hide the shine.

Yet, oddly, it took little effort to keep from sinking into trouble. They sat across that campfire from each other and nibbled on rations. They didn't need the fire, or the campsite for that matter, it was just a place to spend the day outside of the little ship. They threw finger food at each other. They threw insults at each other. They kept topics bouncing in the air like a playful game of ball.

What's more, now that Kess knew the worst part of his long story, Luke felt a new confidence to speak about things he couldn't before, including news he most recently learned about the old Jedi Order.

And the look on her face was _priceless_.

"Celibate?"

Luke tried not to grin, "Yeah, that was my reaction too."

She finished tightening the pommel down on her lightsaber but didn't put it away just yet. Instead, Kess growled louder as if daring him to repeat it while she had a weapon in her hand. _"Celibate?"_

He faced her down with this, but he couldn't keep from glowing with the humor of it. "Yep."

She eyed him as if expecting this to be some sort of prank. "Like, _completely_. _..?_ "

"Yep."

She crossed her arms at her chest with a childish huff. "I quit."

Luke blurted through his laughter. "You can't quit twice!"

"I double quit."

"Okay." He shrugged carelessly, and then he squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to laugh when he felt it coming.

Like an erupting volcano, Kess shouted out in a crazy whine. "You need to put crap like that in the brochure!"

Luke curled over into his lap with a pink-faced laughter. She threw her unlit hilt at him across the small space. Luke lifted his forearms in defense at the flying thing just chortled at it all.

Kess quieted again, staring at the fire, thinking.

Luke rubbed his lips shut, closed his eyes and, _wait for it_ …

"Wait a minute!"

Luke covered his eyes with his hand and jiggled with fresh laughter.

"How…?"

"My father turned to the dark side?" He broke down the basic math for her, still trying not to laugh.

She met his eyes a long moment. "That explains you, but that doesn't explain me."

"Er, no. It doesn't." Luke reached into the crate behind him for another drink box of juice.

Her tone paled, "You know more than you're telling me again."

"And I admitted that already," Luke pointed out. He sipped the drink and set it aside. He declared boldly, "I will tell you everything I know about your grandfather _right now_ if you want me to. But first, know _this_ :"

Her brows lifted to him, listening.

"I know only a little more than you do, and what I do know, all it's going to do is to lead to a lot more questions that _I can't answer_." He looked her in the eye and shook his head. "This one is not my doing."

She seemed to chew on that for a moment and that strawberry began to sizzle again. "Good thing we know how to get Grandpa to show up, huh?"

He chuckled softly. "I don't think he's going to come around for an inquiry if that's what you're planning." Luke rested his mouth on his palm and watched her. "But there is someone else who'll have some of the answers."

Her eyes shifted to him. "Dad."

Luke wiggled his brows up and down.

She groaned a grin into the air. "You planned this all along, didn't you?"

"No," he assured. "But it _is_ what's next."

She sighed at the sky with reluctant agreement. "I know."

Respectfully, he lowered his gaze and gave her time to stew over the idea without pressure from him, but he couldn't help but be a little excited by the idea too. Last night's cleansing tears seemed to fast forward her through things she had been struggling with for some time. Yesterday, he doubted she would ever complete this training; today, he wasn't sure what training remained after she faced her father.

But he recognized the newness of all this and accepted that patience was the best strategy. Just because she was shining like a pink star today didn't mean all this wasn't temporary. Plus, her mood still peaked with dark aftershocks (although they were fading quickly with time.)

Kess had crawled her way over the summit. It was going to be downhill from here. Her training was almost over. And afterwards…

Luke snuck a shy glance to catch the sight of her. She must have felt it because her face scrunched into a secret grin and brown eyes peeked back at him.

Strawberry soda.

Luke cleared his throat and scratched his earlobe. He tried to think up something that would start an inert topic, but he felt that sweet fizz drift away without his help.

The shine in her eyes swiftly withered. She stared at nothing in the single flame fire as if mesmerized by it. As it happened more than once today, Luke felt the darkness swell up in her throat and his happiness melted with her mood.

She was scared, and Luke completely understood why.

Her voice was distant. "What were their names?"

Luke pulled the drink box in front of him but paused before sipping from it. His eyes shifted, confused. "Whose names?"

"The um," she scratched the bridge of her nose with her index finger. Her eyes scrunched shut for a moment. But even with all the body language, Luke could feel the shame and guilt bubble out of her like a mushroom cloud. "The three pilots." She raised her eyes to him, trying to look strong about it, but she wasn’t.

Luke wrapped his elbows around his knees and thought back to the KIA list he had seen only briefly. He debated not telling her. "Frond, Wilkerson, and Joust," he said.

Her eyes turned back to the flames. "What groups were they in?"

"I don't know," he murmured. "I don't know anything about them."

At the time, Luke was too busy scrambling for permissions and resources. He was focused on absconding with a comatose apprentice before she woke up enough to show the New Alliance she had turned to the dark side. Thankfully, it took only one whisper into only one ear and support sprouted like weeds to get them out of there in a big damn hurry.

Privacy and honesty, the two things Luke starved her of this whole time were the two elements she needed to keep breathing. She was okay now, even better. But Kess's new wardrobe of bright play was still ripped with ugly gaps of shame, guilt and terror.

Luke secretly watched her across the fire, at the way she stared into the flame with a shade of disbelief and dread he'd never seen in her before. A bird cawed overhead. A beetle ticked in a nearby tree. He watched her close her eyes and try to meditate, try to rein it all back in, but she struggled against a black string that tied her down.

Something was still in there.

 _Privacy and honesty,_ he thought, nodding at the idea, and adjusted his elbows on his kneecaps as he thought how to begin.

Kess broke out of her reverie and stood on her knees to find another piece of lightsaber-sliced tree to put into the flames.

"I almost turned to the dark side once."

She stopped short. Her eyes narrowed at him as if she wasn't sure she heard him right.

Luke met her gaze and stretched a shy, shrugging grin across his face.

Kess settled to listen. Her mouth fell open. She ignored whether her new log caught on fire or not.

"Battle of Endor," he told her. "I didn't know he could sense me until we were trying to sneak down to the moon. I turned myself in to protect their position." He sat his cheek on his palm. "That's why I wasn't in the fight with everybody else."

She nodded vaguely to that. That much she knew already. He didn't need to defend it.

"The Emperor was sitting on his throne, gloating at me. My father was standing behind me. And they gave me two choices: turn to the dark side or die." He tried to say it matter-of-factly, but the weight of the subject wouldn't let his voice brighten that much.

Brown eyes watched him.

He took a deep breath and forced it out of his mouth. "The Emperor told them to fire at will, and the first ship that went was the _Liberty_." He paused with respect of her loss of Rix. "And he did it just to piss me off." His jaw tightened, "and it worked."

Kess's mouth clipped shut.

"I fought my father with everything I had," he whispered, nearly smiling in his own horror of the memory. "He used me to pull the Rebellion into a trap. He threatened to turn Leia." Luke raised his cyborg hand in the air. "I pounded him so hard that I managed to slice off his hand." His pulled his fingers into a fist and dropped it onto his knee. "My lightsaber was practically coming down on his head by the time I realized what I was doing."

Kess was riveted. "What did you do?"

"I _stopped_." Luke almost smiled at her. "I took a deep breath and I threw my lightsaber down." He stared into the memory for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth and brought his claws into the air, but there was a bittersweet grin of a lesson learned. "That's when the Emperor attacked me with those blasted lightning bolts of his." His tone lightened with bitter sarcasm. "I could've fully powered a Corvette Runner with a single touch of my finger."

She reflected a weak grin at his attempt of humor on such a dark subject.

"And while I was 'distracting' Palpatine," he grinned at his own term but his humor faded again, "Vader killed him before the Emperor killed me."

Kess was silent to absorb all this, to imagine all that.

"And that's the truth." Luke angled his head and let the smile float back to his eyes. He announced the irony with a wry chuckle. "I did absolutely nothing of value in the Battle of Endor."

It was a chuckle she shared with him. She knew enough now to understand it from his point of view, she knew enough of the public's understanding to put the pieces together, and she knew enough about how a sentient galaxy worked to explain the NewNets' take of the entire episode.

"I think you did something of immense value," she announced proudly, meeting his eye. "You _stopped_."

Luke glowed at her.

She shrugged. "We'd all be wearing white armor right now if you hadn't."

Luke smiled from ear to ear.

But before he let the emotion get the best of him, he wrinkled his nose with dismissal. "Naw, I make a terrible stormtrooper."

She grinned at the image. The mood floated back up again.

She stared into the fire for a minute, then posed it as food for thought, "But what if _I'm_ not the one that turned?" She pondered. "You went there to kill him. You _didn't_ , but you _went there_ to kill him."

Reluctant to admit that, Luke nodded. "True."

"And you _had_ to," she defended for him, working through the detail aloud, "because of the power he had, because of the trouble he caused." She chewed on her lower lip. "But it doesn't take Force skill to be on the dark side. Anybody can fall for it. So what if… what if he was on the dark side but didn't have any power at all. What if he was like some profogg hiding in his own little cave, under his own dark rock, only poking out to feed on…" she searched for a metaphor, "on…"

"On his own daughter?" Luke finished for her. His grin stretched sadly that he already knew where she was going with it.

Her eyes flicked over. She grinned shyly, "Yeah."

"You're not going there to save him, Kess, you're going there to save _you_ ," he told her. "His power lies in your reaction to him, to the thought of going to see him, and how far you're willing to go to avoid him. _That's_ the part you have to solve." He shrugged, "And if you can save him while you're at it, all the better."

Her brows angled. "How do I do this?" She looked him in the eye like he was nuts. "Killing him is not the answer."

"It usually isn't," Luke admitted with a soft smile, "thank the Force."

They shared a smile agreement to that.

"So what do I do?"

"Just tell him the truth," Luke told her gently. "Don't lose your temper, don't run and hide, and don't hate him for his point of view." He shrugged again. It was as simple as that.

She hugged her knees and stared at the fire to absorb his words and Luke noted how she was huddling, similar to the way she huddled last night. Except, this time, she didn't have his jacket around her. He was wearing it.

Part of him wanted to sidle over and be her shoulder again, but it didn't feel right, not right now. He watched her close her eyes and sigh, trying to calm her own fears, but she struggled. She needed a deep meditation; a real, deep, long, solitary kind of meditation. And she was trying, but—

 _Privacy and honesty_. Luke grinned and, thoughtfully, pushed to his feet.

The movement shattered her attempt to meditate. She looked up curiously as he took off his jacket and stepped over to her.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," he said lightly as he leaned over where she sat. He wrapped his jacket over her shoulders and left a kiss on the top of her head.

Before she had a chance to say anything else, he pushed back to his full height and strolled to the ship with an excuse. "I'm going to go meditate."

Luke could feel her heart warm with appreciation at his gesture as he walked away.

 


	3. LL3 3 The Tree is Calling

** LL3       3         The Tree Is Calling **

Leia shuffled together her notes, barely listening to the NewsNet report until it switched to Wubak standing in front of the Council Building. "In the wake of the Battle of the Y-wing: Both Jedi Lendra and Jedi Skywalker were still unavailable for interviews due to an unscheduled trip to an unknown location. Councilor Organa Solo, the next Minister of State to be sworn-in in two weeks, had this to say about their absence..."

The screen switched to a shot of Leia's press release that very morning. "Their trip is to allow Lieutenant Lendra time to heal from wounds suffered during the battle, but also so that she could concentrate on essential facets of her Jedi training. That is why Jedi Skywalker is with her at this time."

"Is he not also her Commanding Officer?"

"No. Not anymore," Leia's said in the recording. "Lieutenant Lendra's duties in Rogue Group are completed. She is no longer in his chain of command. It is purely a Jedi matter they are dealing with on this trip."

Wubak's plastic smile flashed back on the screen, "In light of the repeated kidnap attempts, there are high hopes that Jedi Lendra will complete her training in short order. The question is, what will the Empire do while the Jedi are, however temporarily, in hiding."

As the vid flipped to other business, Leia rubbed her forehead, sighed wearily, and went back to her datawork.

* * *

"Kesselia."

The voice woke Kess out of a good dream. The cabin was dark, only pinpoints of light from LEDs cut through the night. She listened if a native creature had snuck into their ship as they slept, but she could tell by the still air that the ramp remained shut. She sensed out briefly to verify Luke was still on the bunk above her, still fast asleep.

Nothing stirred.

She concluded it must have been part of a dream. She rolled over and cuddled her still healing head to the pillow. She carefully rested her now cast-less forearm on the mattress beside her face and closed her eyes to go back to sleep.

"Come here."

Her eyes flew open, instantly alert as if someone pressed a GQ button in her brain. Keeping perfectly still in the bottom bunk, every sense reached out for clues.

Luke didn't stir. The ramp remained shut. No glowing bodies showed up in this cabin nor lit up the cockpit through the open hatch. Kess expanded her mind to remember where they were. Dagobah. No one was here. How could this be possible?

Lying carefully still, she closed her eyes and meditated a moment so she could sense out beyond the ship. She wondered if this was some after-effect of turning to the dark side and coming back. Or if it was just a nightmare clinging to her longer than usual. She reached out her mind to the surrounding jungle outside. Beetles and birds continued to sing their eerie cries. The soft hum of nature settled her mind like a massage chair. She began to drift back to sleep.

"So sorry, precious."

Her eyes flew open and searched the darkness for a body. The voice was instantly familiar, not just by the evil kind of caring, but by the words themselves. That pet name coddled her, teased her to frustration, and tried countless times to make things better. But those words were always driven by guilt.

She sat up and looked around, sensed around, but there was no one here. This was a Force thing. It had to be. But Luke didn't move.

With slow movements, she pulled herself from the bunk and sensed around as she threw on some clothes. Wide-awake now, she quietly clunked on just enough power to open the ramp. As it cracked the seal and rattled open, she glanced over to the bunk to see if Luke would wake. It was so loud that anyone would, especially a Jedi who slept a lightly as he did.

But Luke didn't stir.

That was her sign that she had to do this alone. Kess closed her mouth with determination and clipped her lightsaber to her belt. Maybe they wouldn't need to go to Tatooine after all.

The wetness of the air fused the fabric of her pants to her legs. Her eyes darted around the squirming terrain as she thumbed on a tiny flashlight. She could hardly see the campsite even with the flashlight poking feebly into the blackened terrain. Her Forces senses were doing all the work to navigate. She felt out in the uneven weave of life trying to pinpoint the source of all this.

"Dad?"

His voice oozed in the darkness. "Come here, precious."

She poked the beam of light in that direction but saw nothing but trees. Kess rubbed her lips with determination and stepped away from the ship. Her feet carried her into the raw jungle looking for her father or, at least, some representation of him.

* * *

Luke stirred when her Force print drained out of his mind. He blinked awake to find her gone. He sat up, sensing quickly, and jumped off the top bunk. Barefoot and barely clothed, he Pulled his lightsaber into his fist and ducked quickly out of the ship, scouring the area with his mind.

It took only seconds to find her light already a kilometre away and walking west. She was picking carefully through cypress roots and heading straight for the dark cave in the roots of a giant tree.

In a panic, Luke inhaled to call out in voice and Telepathy when a spot of air lightened near the campsite and formed into a transparent body. Luke was already grimacing with anger to have his Master's leash yanked again before he realized who it was.

He hardly recognized the man. Anakin as a ghost looked nothing like the battle-scarred man Luke had uncovered from a black mask. Even in death, Anakin stood as strong and immobile as he did when he was alive, only now carried a glare wrought with humility.

It was obvious by the look on his father's face that Luke was not to stop Kess in any way. Luke stepped barefoot out onto the cold dirt to challenge him on that decision. "Obi-Wan said she wasn't ready."

The dead man grinned with parental understanding. "She wasn't ready before." Anakin spoke in a voice much different than the one Luke was accustom to hearing from the man. "And you couldn't send her after."

 _Before_ , Luke thought. Before he told her the truth… when they were both so frustrated with the invisible handcuffs of training that the whole purpose of their friendship was falling through the cracks. Now that he had told her, even in a roundabout way, he was already being held back from his duties as her Master.

He didn't like this at all. He wanted to be there when she came out. At the very least, he wanted to be able to calm her down and help explain whatever vision she was going to get. He felt helpless now. Luke worked so hard not to break the rules, but nobody bothered to tell him what the rules were in the first place.

Now Kess was walking into the darkest part of her training to face… Luke groused to remember Yoda's perfectly cryptic explanation: To face only what she took with her.

His brows knitted at what he expected her to find in there. His voice was harsh at the ghost. "She's not you."

"No," Anakin smiled agreement to that. He lifted his brow, "And you're not him."

Luke's lips drew into a thin line as he watched the glowing figure fade away. He let out a sigh filled with more mixed emotions than he felt in a long time.

Luke retreated to sit on the exit ramp. Struggling with this, and fighting the urge to betray his father's orders, Luke closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt out towards the cave to find some small rodent nearby and borrowed its eyes.


	4. LL3 4 The Cave Test

** LL3       4         The Cave Test **

Kess paused outside the tree. She had identified the dark spot from a distance and knew something was off, something weird in the Force about this place. Curiosity brought her this far, but coldness filled her soul, the hate was overbearing, and she could tell it was coming from the tree.

Kess rattled her head, "Yeah-no," and turned away to go back.

"Come here, precious," the voice cooed. "Come visit with me."

His voice was so clear that she couldn't tell if she was hearing it through the Force or her own ears. He must have seen her on the NewsNets by now. He already knew. She was sure of it. Kess tried to see through the gray slime of Dagobah. "Dad?"

The sound of her voice disappeared in the vacuum of that darkness. Kess stepped through the vine curtain and a chill hit her spine. The disquiet was palpable, like that bitter tang on the back of the throat, like that moment of eerie silence just before the dinner table exploded.

A body stepped from the shadows. Squared shoulders were the only definite feature in the black cloak, but the voice was undeniably her father, placating his usual song. "I've missed you, precious."

He wasn't glowing, so he couldn't be dead. "Dad, I—

The darkness of this cave wasn't helping her practiced calm, much less the confidence of her defense. "I was on my way to tell you."

A hand emerged from the cloak to reach out a palm of offering. "Ah, my little girl." It was as though he hadn't heard her. He stepped forward, a careful, casual-like stroll, but he stopped. "Come here, precious."

Kess tried to search his expression, but the hood of the cloak threw shadows across his face. The cave was so thick black with the dark side that she couldn't make out his emitting emotions. "You already know, don't you?"

He took another step to her, his other hand emerging from the woolen fabric in an open-arm gesture. His voice was tense with aggravation and struggled to coax the woman into his grasp. "Kesselia, _come_."

Her mouth opened with a breath and stopped. She calmed her fears, her anger, and raised her chin. "No."

He moved forward again. His large hands balled into fists of anger.

Kess shuffled quickly backwards. "No. You can't do this to me anymore."

"How dare you speak to me that way," he hissed. "I have every right—

"You have _no_ right!" she screamed. Her eyes slammed shut, but the tears seeped through and dribbled down her face. All those years of fright and bitterness welled up in her soul and poured out uncontrollably in her scream, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!"

His reaction was not a surprise. He stormed the three steps to her and brought the back of his hand across her cheek. It took Kess only a split second to shut out the sting. She loved him too much to unleash her lightsaber. Instead, she drew back and hardened for a maneuver she swore she'd never do: Kesselia balled her fist and hit him back.

Her knuckles sank into the flesh at his mouth and his head whipped to the side, knocking off his hood in the process. Even in the darkness, she could see that his hair was not silvery gray. His temple was not wrinkled with lines of age. Her breath quivered as she realized it. "You're not my father."

His head turned to her with daggers of hate in his blue eyes. Kess backed up into the wall when she saw Luke's wrathful face.

"No," Luke hissed. He was toe to toe with her and still leaned forward, bearing down on her. "I am your _master_!" Spittle sprayed from his lips as he hissed at her, his face twisted with anger.

Her heart crumbled. Every ounce of confidence drained away from her soul. She could only shake her head. _This isn't happening. This can't be happening._

"You will _not_ question me!" His fingers grabbed the fabric of her collar, picked her feet up off the ground, and slammed her back against the wall with a furious growl, "You will _obey_!"

The frothing wrath in his voice paralyzed her struggle. Her feet hung a half metre above the ground. He glared at her as if daring her to respond. She stared in shock into his frosty eyes of hate.

Give up on her, Luke pulled her from the wall and brutally chucked her to the ground, throwing her away like garbage. Her body hit the stone and sprawled.

The insult stabbed her like an ice pick in her beating heart. Betrayal gurgled like lava in her throat. Kess scramble to her feet. These tests had gone too far. She was ready to tear the organs right out of his stomach and make him _HURT_ as much as she did. As soon as she rose to her full height, she brought out her claws, glared at his hateful eyes and jumped.

Instead of plowing against his chest, her shoulder bashed full force against the opposite wall. She gasped at the sudden silence, the sudden solitary.

Kess looked around the cave, eyes widened in confusion, gasping a new terror.

Luke vanished right in front of her—

She rubbed her bruised cheek. Seconds ago, he struck her as solid as a rock, but Luke wasn't there.

Kess' brow furrowed. Her eyes searched the darkness. Her ears listened for clues in the quiet murmur of the jungle.

 _No one_ was there.

She slumped to sit on her hip, staring open-mouthed at the truth.

This was all _her_.

Kess huddled there alone, shaking in silence, for a very long time.

* * *

Over a kilometre away, Luke could feel the chill as if he were sitting right in front of her. Retreating his Force sights from the cave felt like he was pulling back a bloody stump from the insult.

He thought they'd grown beyond this Master/Apprentice superhero fodder. He realized that admitting his lineage to Vader and telling her his tale of the Emperor probably churned up a fresh fright in her over Luke's dark side.

Luke turned on a single lamp in the galley to brew up some hot java. He got dressed and cooked up a new campfire just to have something to stare at. The crickets ticked and birds cooed in the distance. It _felt_ like midnight on so many levels.

 _There's still something in there,_ he thought. _There's still some dark string tying her down_. But for the life of him, Luke could not figure out what he had done to cause it, or what he could do to fix it. It was easy to figure out why he saw _himself_ in the cave those years ago, but he couldn't figure out why Kess would see _him_.

The more trained she got, the more she feared him, yet the more powerless he became. The whole thing was upside down.

He sensed her coming long before she returned, but Luke could not sense anything from her. She'd built a brick wall around her soul just to keep him from getting in.

She stepped into the orange light. Her ivory shirt hung half-cocked on her shoulders and the feather ends of her hair dangled almost as low as the shirttails. She sat down on a crate, slow and skittish, like she was poised to leap away the moment he budged. Brown eyes drilled into him, confused and hurt.

And all he could do was stare back, confused and hurt.

Luke started, but all he could think to say was, "It wasn't me."

"I know," she murmured. "But you saw."

Luke nodded apprehensively.

"How long have you been awake?"

"I wasn't at first—

"You didn't try to stop me." She wasn't blaming him, but was still wounded by it anyway. He could hear it in her voice, _Jedi Apprentice, not a damsel in distress._

Luke let out a breath. "Because…" He stopped himself. _'Because Vader told me not to'_ would not go over well. He looked her in the eye and reminded himself what this was all about. His mouth softened with regret. "You know why I couldn't."

She smiled in anger. "And here I thought all I had left to face was my father."

Finally, Luke leaned forward and hissed with his own righteous insult. "Kess, I don't understand this any more than you do."

Her eyes widened with surprise at him. Her mouth peeled away to a full smile of disbelief at him. She heaved a whisper of a laugh at his innocence. "Oh, I _understand_ it," she corrected

Now, Luke was truly confused.

And that just made her shine more at his naiveté. Kess stepped to him, grinning with a dark wisdom, and stood over him. "The fact that you don't just proves how stupid it is."

Luke looked up, hurt.

"It's not your fault," she assured with a motherly grin. She reached down and top of his head just as he had kissed the top of hers. "This one is not your fault." She turned away, sounding like she was cursing herself over it. "You're just the poor fool stuck with fixing it."

Luke was more lost now than he was before. He watched Kess wander into the ship without looking back at him. Uncertain and struggling, Luke sank down in front of the fire and fretted.

 


	5. LL3 5 Epiphany

** LL3       5         Epiphany **

That night, Kess did a lot of thinking and even more meditating. She found the level of serenity she was used to, and then dug deeper to find that it was lying over a bed of childhood horrors. Her rough youth hardened her core so badly that she accepted it as a permanent fixture. But the blackened emotions from her history refused to stay in the bottle. They repeatedly emerged when things got bad, just enough to alter her judgment.

Kess dug through the skeletons in her closet one by one. She faced them, accepted them, and gave each of them permission to be there. She pacified the guilt of betraying her father's wishes. It was her life, and she was going to live it. She forgave Grandpa for abandoning Grandma. There was more to that mess than Kess would ever know, and when it came right down to it, what had happened between Mister and Misses Kenobi was nobody else's business anyway. She shed all her hate for Darth Vader, for the entire Empire, and let herself admit they didn't blow up Alderaan just to kill her mother. Her mother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her father was consumed by the bitterness of it all, and in the remaining years of Kess' growing up, she inadvertently taught herself it was easier to agree with the man instead of fight him.

Now, she would not succumb to his superiority. She would not tell him he was right just to pacify his hate. And she wasn't going to fight him. Her father was already in enough pain as it was. Kess wasn't going to inflict more by denouncing him. She understood the lesson in the cave. The fear of her father's dismissal and the hate for Vader had coalesced and poisoned her trust in Luke.

She smiled a little when she realized that, again, Luke was right. She had to face her father to bring the rest of her emotions to peace. And she had to be at peace about it all before she could truly have Luke. Otherwise, all they would get is one night before the whole thing skewed into something dark, shaky, and shallow. They would fall apart before they began. If she wanted the whole man, heart and all, she had to resolve that remaining source of her fear in men, which meant she had to face her father, which meant she had to wait until training was over.

All the mismatched pieces this thing were falling into place; like crates of parts finally starting to look like a whole ship. Kess stared at the bottom of the empty bunk above her and fingered the dried blood from her scalp with an arm still healing from a broken forearm. Her mind relaxed into it all, fell back far enough to see the grand vision of the whole thing… everything Luke said or did fell neatly into place. He was right all along.

Kess climbed out of the bunk without a wink of sleep and found dawn shining down through the swirls of mist. Luke was already awake (or still awake, she wasn't sure) and straddling an equipment case with a half-empty box of rations. His chewing on the tasteless breakfast paused when she emerged. He watched her cautiously.

Kess recognized he had gone out of his way to stay out of the ship, granting her the space to be alone as long as she needed to, to figure things out on her own. She grinned bashfully as she approached and straddled the same small crate with him. She could feel his misgivings about her proximity when she helped herself to a nibble from the ration box in his hand.

She let her boots meet the dirt just outside of his, bumping their leather-shrouded ankles together. For now, it was the most she would let herself touch him. In her own subconscious way, she had to verify that he was still there, still real, and still felt the same way about her that he did when he kissed her.

Luke deciphered the gesture as clearly as if it was spelled out for him and the corners of his mouth curled into his cheeks. To answer, he scooted his feet forward, making their boots cross at the calves.

Her eyes smiled as she plucked out another bite from the ration box.

He glowed back at her as he held the box out in offering.

Strawberry soda.

"It's time to go see my Dad."

She said it as if they'd been chatting about it for hours.

Luke nodded as though he had a choice. "All right."

They had little conversation during the short span it took to pack and take off, but the silence was only from Kess' revelation. There was a new humbleness about her and a refreshed attitude of just wanting to get down to business. Luke could relate to the anxiety she was dealing with and didn't question it. She kept touching him in casual contact when she didn't need to; a hand on his waist when she brushed passed him in the narrow passageway and a hand on his shoulder when she stepped up behind him in the pilot's chair. It was enough to tell him that she didn't blame him and she didn't fear him directly, she just had a lot on her mind. And Luke was content with the small, silent assurances.

Having spent only three days on Dagobah, they hit hyperspace for another long ride.

* * *

Yana hummed a tune to herself as she eyed the documents on the screen, but tried to keep her voice low enough as to not disturb to the other data admins in the dark and quiet Command Center. Something caught her eye that made her hum raise with the curl of curiosity.

She typed the usual banter to decode the message. After a few failures, she remembered the omektako code Commander Skywalker pointed out.

The code worked. Her eyes brightened at her success as the symbols unraveled in letters one by one, and then her eyes widened with concern.

**TO: Son56489-WATC@PUBLIC.NET**

**FR: Father00254-SPKJ@LOCKET.NET**

**RE: (no data)**

**Bring me Kess Lendra alive. Then I will consider your pardon.**

* * *

Luke grinned as he strolled out in a semi-circle in the tiny berthing cabin and ignited a white blade in his hand. He found a screw caught in the deck grating and fiddled with it with the toe of his boot.

The duels had progressed far past the point of a fun jaunt. Kess lost much more often than she won, no matter how much concentration and peace she was putting to the effort. It hadn't taken her long to realize that Luke was going easy on her that first day when he revealed the dud lightsabers months ago. It seemed like years ago.

Since then, he surprised her with a new strategy every time the white blades met in battle. She was tallying up all these devious tactics in her mind, watching to see if any would repeat themselves, but his strategies only combined with one another and grew more complex.

Kess backed up almost through the open cockpit hatch and tensely licked her lips. He obviously had something new in mind the way he was looking at her. There was a fire in his eyes; a hint of humor curled his lips. He set his feet apart in the ground with the blade letting out a shuddering hum as it moved. His right hand wrapped around the hilt above his left, but his let it casually hang in front of him for a moment.

Kess swallowed her nervousness, "There is no room to maneuver in here."

"No. I know." He raised the sword at her, "But you have to learn how to fight without being able to maneuver."

Kess anchored her feet on the deck and bent her knees, staring at his smiling eyes passed the glowing white of the blades. She was ready.

"Come to the Minister of State reception with me."

Kess squinted at him and stood up straight, lowering her guard, " _What_?"

Luke lunged at her, but she brought up the sword in a wide-eyed panic and blocked it. He stood up straight, smiling at her passed the cross in the blades. They hissed and crackled as the blades slid apart.

She looked at him, squinting to try to see through the façade.

He stepped backward with a grin. "You heard me. Come to the reception with me." He separated his feet again and took the hilt with both hands. "Please." He said it as though that was the key word she was waiting for.

Kess' eyes drilled into him for his true intentions, but she lowered to a defensive stance anyway. "I thought we weren't supposed to date until the training's over?"

Luke swung at her blade and they sizzled together, "It's not a date really," he tapped a few more times and backed up again, twirling the blade in the air. "It's more like a, uh... an escort." He swung low at her leg slow enough that she easily blocked it. "Besides, Leia wants you to go."

Kess raised an eyebrow, "Then why doesn't Leia ask me?"

Luke's teeth shined at her and he quickly bit his lip for another swing. The blades slammed together. "She's already got a date."

Kess laughed and brought her blade around for her own attack. The hum echoed against metal walls as the sword sliced through the air and crashed down on his. She carefully stepped around toward the table, keeping his blade at bay. A twinkle shined in her eye at the thought, but she was convinced this was just another ploy to distract her from the duel.

Luke stepped sideways and curled his blade around hers until he brought it back quickly and tapped it away. His teeth clenched as he brought up a swing from the inside and firmly pushed her blade up and over her head, stepping to her in the process. With one hand, he held her blade at bay and the other rested confidently on his hip. He backed her up into the table stopped just before pressing against her body. His eyes smiled, "Answer me."

Her eyes smiled back. "Yes."

The glint in his eyes brightened for a moment and he stepped backward, pulling his blade away and parting his feet. Kess brought her own sword in front of her again, still quietly giddy that he actually asked her out on a date... escort... whatever.

"Oh, but there's a catch." He said and sliced sideways at her neck.

Kess twisted to block it and stepped around some more. "What's that?" He wasn't fighting very hard.

Luke chewed his tongue as he prepared for the next attack and grinned. "You have to wear a dress."

Her forehead wrinkled. She stood up and pulled her hand from her hilt so she could wag a finger at him, "Now just wait a _damn minute_ —

He swung and hit her firmly in the thigh.

She limped backward and swore at him.

Luke laughed.

* * *

Kadaan paced his chambers until Cheenan marched in and came to attention. "Your transport is ready, Master."

With that, Kadaan turned for the entrance hall and kept on marching. "Are the chempods loaded?"

Cheenan stepped confidently at his flank. "Yes, Master."

"Is Shori Ka prepared for the trip?" Kadaan asked stiffly. His personal guards stepped into place behind Cheenan and escorted them through the palace.

"Yes, Master."

"Any word on our missing Jedi?"

"No, Master."

Kadaan proceeded into his private launch pad and marched into the awaiting transport. "Good. Be ready before they return."

Cheenan stopped at the edge of the ramp with one final, "Yes, Master," and turned away to hurry to his own transport.

 


	6. LL3 6 Mos Eisley

** LL3       6         Mos Eisley **

Kess moved stiffly to pulled the straps over her shoulders. Luke's hands moved easily over the ship controls. The hyperdrive engines shut down, lines shortened to pinpoints of distant light, and a yellow-white rock of a planet filled the cockpit window. Tatooine stood out against the black sky like it was its own star.

Luke got on the comm to Mos Eisley Control but couldn't get a docking bay on the south side. He settled for a bay on the west side. In their years of absence, neither could remember if that was a bad part of town or not. Upon approach, they quietly agreed that it didn't matter. The Empire pulled out of Tatooine a year ago, so the different parts of the city were bound to have evolved dramatically in one direction or the other anyway.

They coasted down into the dusty atmosphere and watched the terrain of jagged rocks and sand dunes pass underneath them. Luke followed the beacon over adobe buildings and lowered into Docking Bay 49. When the ship thumped on the ground, Kess sighed sadly. "Well, we're home."

Luke insisted they dress as Tatooine-like as possible, still concerned with bounty hunters, kidnappers, and Imperials in general. Just as they prepared to leave the ship, he pulled out two wads of heavy woolen fabric. She saw him wear the black cloak on occasion before, but this time it was a little unsettling. Kess understood his drive for going incognito, however, and draped the brown cloak over her own shoulders without argument.

They stepped onto the surface and locked up the ship. The dry air tightened her skin, the musty wind smelled comfortable, and Kess smiled at the ambiance of home. They strolled out to the street where an elephant-nosed Ortolan was already waddling over for rent in advance. As Luke stopped to barter down the fee with the blubbery blue creature, Kess walked across the street to a public comm port.

She blew most of the dust off with one, long birthday-wish blow and punched in a well-remembered number.

"Hello?" Nik's voice crackled from the tiny speaker before his blocky image flickered on the screen. He looked a little older and his expression a little more serious, but his eyes brightened as soon as her image came clear on his end. "Hey! How are you?"

"Hello, Nik," she said with a gentle smile. "You up for a visit?"

His face changed as he recognized the buildings in her background, "You're _here_? Wha— Sure come on over. We'll feed you lunch."

"Got enough for two?" She cocked her head. "I'm bringing a friend."

An eyebrow shot up, "A 'friend', huh?" He leaned back in his chair and combed his fingers through his brown hair. "I've got enough Retago for two. Are we toasting something?"

Kess shook her head just as Luke dropped his shoulder against the adobe wall next to her, just out of sight of the viewport. She didn't look at him. "Different kind of friend, Nik."

"Okay." He just agreed with her. He didn't believe her. "See you soon."

Kess flipped off the comm port and turned to Luke. "He doesn't know," she thought aloud, "He would've asked about it if he saw it on the vid. He thinks my 'friend' is toting an engagement token."

"I hope you plan to clarify that misconception."

Offended, she stepped away. "They've been trying to marry me off for years. Don't take it personally."

There were no stormtroopers roaming the street, and that was a little strange, but the remaining combination of races moved around on speeders and bikes just like they always did. Droids avoided Jawas, drunk Gamorreans sat in the shade behind cantinas, and giant dewbacks carried their shrouded masters on their backs. Kess was barely familiar with this part of town, but remembered enough to know the direction home and started walking.

Luke met her stride down the narrow street and mumbled sincerely into her ear. "I just don't want anybody assuming things. Don't take it personally."

Sand drifts collected on the sides of dome entrances to underground houses. Other buildings stood straight and tall, cream-colored towers loomed over busy footpaths. Twin suns beat down on the sand under their feet. The scent of a dewback barbecue laced the dusty air.

Kess chuckled bitterly. "Nobody's assuming anything, _Master_. Not on Yavin Base anyway. And Nik will be stopped in his tracks as soon as he recognizes you. Everyone knows you're not the marrying type."

Luke's eyes fell on her, seeing just passed the rim of the cloak's black hood. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She stopped and turned to him. She had to remind herself of what she just said in order to defend it. "Oh, well... it's just that you've been in the limelight for so long, and no one has ever even seen you with a date." Her voice trailed off and she started walking again. "And you're so busy with Rogue Group and the Council and the Guild, it's not like you'd have any time to get into that stuff anyway." Somehow, her attack and defense didn't quite jive with her personal point of view. She squinted into the displaced logic.

Offended, and not entirely understanding this assessment, Luke just walked beside her and grazed the sights of the city.

"I'm sorry," she blurted a full apology. "I never bothered to ask before I made that assumption. I guess no one else has either. You never mentioned any desire to settle down, so I assumed you didn't want to." She slapped her hands to her sides with an apologetic shrug.

Luke paused to face her and flicked a devious brow. "What if I just prove you wrong someday?"

Kess flashed a smile in humor. "Oh?"

They stepped onto a tile walk that led into a market alley and threaded through the crowd of pedestrians. Luke sidestepped to keep from being trampled by ravenous shoppers and scanned over the metal frame booths as if he cared what they were selling. "I have every desire to settle down as much as the next guy," he defended, "I'm just a little more patient." He shrugged and grinned. "Or maybe a little more picky."

"I'm afraid what that entails," she chuckled rhetorically.

Luke argued playfully. "I get the urge to throw it all away and run off to Nakisa just like everybody else." He saw Kess shaking her head to that and continued in a guttural voice, "Y'know, buy a house on a beach cliff, find me some cute little redhead, and have her bear fifteen kids for me." He laughed pitifully at himself. "Or something like that."

Kess' eyes bulged out of her shaking head at him. "A beach cliff house? I can handle. A redhead? With a little work, I can do. _Fifteen_ kids _?_ You're _insane_!"

Luke snickered and challenged her, "How many kids do you want?"

Kess pulled her lips in thoughtfully and spoke in a carefully firm voice, " _One. At. A. Time_." After a firmly playful glare of warning at him, she turned away with a purpose to her stride.

Luke bit his lip and smiled at the ground beneath his feet. He imagined it all for a split second: Kess wading through a room full of knee-high children, plucking fifteen plastic-bladed lightsabers out of the air like she was picking weeds, one at a time.

He looked up again to find she was hurrying away. Luke blinked. He was losing her in the crowd.

Luke jumped into a trot to follow. After a few twists around odd-shaped figures and a turn around a lip in the wall, he followed her through a large doorway. The garage inside was cool with shade and cluttered with speeders and greasy parts. Kess was handing over her credit chip to a Jawa by the time Luke found the words to say, "What are you doing?"

Brown eyes twinkled as she closed her fingers around the T-shaped key. With a childish squeal, she straddled a speeder-bike and turned on the ignition. "Hop on."

Luke rubbed his hand over his forehead with a weary sigh, "We're only going to be here for a day, _maybe_ two—

"And in two days," she wiggled her brows at him and lowered her voice. "I'll sell it back to the same Jawa for the same price." She revved the petrol engine and it hissed onto the concrete floor, blowing the sand clean in a spot.

Luke angled his head with a scolding eye and a hidden smirk.

She motioned a hand down a notch in the air. "Okay, maybe I'll sell it back for a day's rent less than what I just bought it for."

He rolled his eyes and sighed for patience.

She whined at him, "Besides, Nik's place is on the other side of town, and Dad's isn't exactly walking distance from there." She pulled the cloak from her shoulders and draped it across the long seat. "You want to be on this rock two days or two weeks?"

With a sigh of defeat, Luke unwrapped himself from his own cloak and straddled the seat behind her. The change from the ominous black cloak to the earth-toned farmer's attire underneath took ten years off his age. He set his feet in the back footrests as she walked the bike toward the outer garage door. Kess paused at the edge of shade and curled an evil eye over her shoulder.

Luke was still curling the cloaks in a tight fold to secure them in his lap.

Kess slammed on the accelerator.

Luke's eyes popped out of his head. His hands grabbed her waist to keep from toppling off the back of the bike. He grumbled something unintelligible at her shoulder and Kess cackled loud and happy as they zipped through Mos Eisley.


	7. LL3 7 Speeder Bike Ride

** LL3       7         Speeder Bike Ride **

Luke realized that he never saw (or heard) of her driving (or flying) _anything_ **_ever_** before. The bike jerked left and right as she dodged pedestrians. Buildings flew by dangerously close to their knees or heads. He slammed his eyes shut so he wouldn't see the near miss with a mini skiff.

"Slow down!" he complained.

Kess laughed at him over the noise of the bike and yelled back at him, "Fear is on the dark side, farm boy!" She dipped into evasive maneuvers avoid a droid emerging onto their path. "Shut up and hold on!"

She raced out of the shopping network and onto the long, elliptical streets near the edge of town. She zipped onto a bridge only occupied with other vehicles that could compete with her speed. The woman cut in front of slower craft like she was trying to kill them both.

Dugs screamed obscenities at them as they flew by. Kess waved back a bright and happy greeting, "Yaa-yaah!"

Luke squinted into the sand stinging his face and mentally checked where his hands were on her waist: not too high, not too low, and not too far forward. Besides, she was probably driving like this just to yank enough fear out of him to make his hands wander.

She shot around an autobus in their path, but Luke was expecting it this time. He gripped her hips to prepare for the sudden jerk in her driving, leaned closer against her back to focus their center of balance, and—

 _Meh, what the hell_ …

He snuggled his front against her back and stayed there.

Kess' attention shattered for a split second and she began to laugh at it. Luke settled his smiling mouth against her braids and ordered, "Concentrate!"

The baked air made him thirsty. The streets smelled like a dune buggy raceway. The Force flowed through them both like they were riding a railway threaded through their stomachs. The jagged cliffs edging the Mesra Plateau loomed over white-washed architecture. Luke looked out beyond the city to the sea of sand dunes. Tat 1 and 2 hovered over the Flats, reflecting off the smooth dunes in a glorious sparkle of pink and gold.

_I hate this place._

Luke tightened his grip on the city girl trying to kill him on a speeder bike and grinned in her hair.

_It's good to be home._

The roadway emptied out deep on the south side of town. He could tell that this was a nicer neighborhood only by the distance between the entrance domes. It meant there were bigger houses attached to them under the burning surface.

Kess twisted around them as though it were slalom until she fishtailed a half circle in the road. Her foot dug into the sand to keep them from toppling over. Half cocked on the bike, she killed the engine.

Luke hopped off the seat and stepped backward until he got his land legs back.

Kess smiled with victory, settling the bike upright and deftly climbed off. "You drive the same way, flyboy. I owed you one."

Luke combed the sand from his hair. He couldn't argue with that. He looked to the entrance dome and assessed where they were.

She finished securing the bike and approached him, but her tone sharpened with severity. "I need you to do me a favor while we're here."

He blinked, lost. "What."

"Don't pressure him today." She looked Luke in the eyes. "Don't even suggest it."

Luke lightly rattled his head, "Suggest who to do what?"

Kess started walking backwards toward the entrance and tapped on her lightsaber, "My _brother_ to _train?_ "

Luke jaw dropped. _Her brother! Of course!_ His mind quickly thumbed through the facts and agreed that now would not be the time to approach her brother about it anyway. The man would undoubtedly have the same fear and/or hate of their father that Kess did. Luke might as well let Kess break that ground for him.

Luke walked to the door behind Kess while he was thinking about it and hardly noticed the boisterous greetings. He blinked to find a man smiling at him. Hickory-colored hair fell into matching eyes. His cheekbones were well defined and his mouth peeled back to shine the same giddy smile Luke had gotten used to seeing only on Kess' face. The man eagerly greeted Luke with a firm handshake. "I'm Nik."

Luke smiled back and returned the hearty handshake. "Luke."

Luke followed Nik into the underground house and crossed the courtyard, quietly observing the native decor and usual household clutter. Kess skipped down the stairwell ahead of them and crossed the courtyard with a woman who apparently was her sister-in-law. They gathered in a parlor colored like butter and yams, just inside the edge of shade. Kess flopped onto a couch as if she lived there, listening to her sister-in-law complained about the price of bantha milk.

Luke strolled passed Kess to sit in a singular chair nearby, deliberately staying out of the way.

The wife scurried away to fetch drinks for their guests. Nik hooted rambunctiously at Kesselia about not seeing her for so long, "Man, you have lost some weight!" he boomed, flopping back into the opposite couch from his sister. "Look at you! You're all buffed up!"

Kess grinned at her lap. "Yeah, well, I've been getting a little exercise lately. I run every morning now."

Nik coughed like he was bringing up a fur ball. "As long as morning is still defined as any time before _noon_."

Luke fought a snigger to that.

Gina brought in a platter full of water glasses and set them on the drink table between them. Her presence alerted Kess to her manners. "Oh, I'm sorry." And waved a hand at each of them. "Luke, this is Nik and Gina. Guys, this is Luke—

She stopped.

After a moment of thought, while the trio waved polite 'nice to meet you's to one another, Kess decided to just wait and see how long it took for Nik and Gina to recognize him. Dressed in sand-ivory farmer's garb from head to toe, he didn't look at all like a Jedi Knight even though the lightsaber was hanging unmistakably from his belt.

Nik seemed to notice his sister's pause but didn't understand what it was about. He motioned assurances at Kesselia's new 'friend', "Relax. I'm not the one you've got to worry about."

Luke cracked a grin. He reached for a water glass and met Gina's eyes to thank her for it, but his smile vanished when he saw the look on the woman's face.

Gina's eyes drilled into him with recognition. Her brows slanted in a helpless fear. She said nothing, but glanced worriedly to Nik and then back to Luke. The Jedi could read her expression clearly, _'please, don't take my husband.'_

Luke stared right back at her and just barely shook his head to assure her. He wasn't going to take anything from anybody. In due time, he would have _asked_ Nik to train, but he wasn't going to pressure the man like he had with Kess.

With Gina's nervous reaction, now sitting stiffly on the couch beside her husband, Luke decided not to ask about it until the couple resolved some of their issues about the idea.

Gina brought her head up high to hide her fears and smiled politely. "I hope you bring news from the outside?"

Lounging back, Nik wrapped his arm around his wife's back and propped a foot on the drink table, "Yeah, we heard there was a battle in the Yavin System last week. What was the story with that? Something about the Imperials trying to kidnap a Jedi Apprentice?"

Kess glanced quickly at Luke and then cocked her head aside at the couple with a grin. "Don't you guys watch any of the NewsNets anymore?"

Nik explained easily, "When the Imperials moved out, they took the media with them. Since were on the outer rim, we can get any of the galactic broadcasters, and there's not enough business here to attract any small-time shows. If it ain't about the Hutts, we're not hearing it. We've been stuck with listening to rumors the last nine months." He pointed a finger passed the glass in his hand, "And there are a lot of rumors I'd like to verify with you, young lady?"

Kess blushed. "Like what?"

Nik leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Like this battle last week," his face twisted at the confusion, "Now, call me stupid, but if there's a Jedi Apprentice running around for the Imperials to kidnap, that means that Skywalker finally decided to start training people? Or are we talking about one of Kadaan's students here?"

"Nik," she nodded firmly to confirm it, "You're stupid."

Nik whined at her. "You're on the same planet with the guy! Did you ever ask for the schematic? What did he say?"

Luke licked his teeth and scratched his eyebrow, trying to decide how long he was going to let Kess keep up the charade.

Kess was red-faced with laughter.

Gina closed her eyes, shook her head, and sighed at the ceiling.

Nik knew his guests were laughing at him and clearly assumed that it was because the rumors were way off. Nik spread his thumbs in a shrug and expectantly eyed his sister for a hint. "What am I missing?"

Kess leaned forward onto her own knees, looked her brother in the eye, and calmed the giggle in her voice. "Nik Lendra?" She held her hand out to the side, introducing her friend again. "Luke _Skywalker_."

Nik's eyes moved to the side and his mouth parted, but the rest of his body didn't move.

Luke's fingers waved shyly from the armrest. His voice snuck out. "Hello."

Wide brown eyes slid back to Kess. "Nah."

Nik sat up a little, looking at Luke, and then at Kess, not believing what he was thinking. "No way."

Kess stretched a brow, "I'm surprised you didn't recognize him when we walked in the door."

Nik slapped his palm on his forehead and dropped back in the couch. His eyes fell on the lightsaber at her side and pointed at it. "ji-... doh-... _is that what I think it is_?"

Kess was always carrying around gadgets and doohickeys so he hadn't even noticed this one with any regard. He watched her pull it off her belt and she tossed it to him. He deftly caught it in the air and looked the hilt over with a giddy smile. "You've got to be kidding me!" His eyes kept darting to her, completely baffled but bursting with excitement.

Kess' heart filled with joy at Nik's schoolboy reaction. She watched him smile wide at Luke like, _'I can't believe you are in my house.'_

She realized that, deep down, she was afraid Nik adopted the same Jedi hate in her absence. Now with her brother's approval, she had more confidence to face her father. Kess sat back into the couch and folded her arms, watching Luke and Nik drum up their own conversation about the Jedi and the Guild and Kess' training. She saw only Nik's bright eyes and Luke's reserved reflections.

In short order, Nik bounced off of the couch and pulled out his bottle of Retago. "It turns out we do have something to toast!" He said as he poured then motioned to Gina. "Honey, go get Ben."

Luke watched Gina leave the room. Nik was babbling something about how he and Kess would try to use telekinesis when they were grammar kids. Kess was laughing loud, remembering the stories only as Nik told them, but Luke kept one eye on the hallway until Gina returned.

The boy came out of the back of the house with a tasked expression on his face and sand all over his ivory pants. The seven-year-old was probably engrossed in a comic or similar hobby. He didn't want to be bothered by grown up visitors but would obey his mother's silent command to be polite. The boy combed away fluttery bangs from his face and gave his aunt a hug, and then turned to shake Luke's hand as they were introduced.

Luke greeted Ben Lendra with a warm smile. He could feel the boy's desire to finish with the social requirements and get back to the playing he was doing before. The boy's nose wrinkled and Luke could barely feel a touch on the Force from someone who didn't quite know what they were doing.

Luke's smile brightened, but he fought it from showing. He distracted the boy's curiosity by asking what he was doing back in his room that was so interesting. Young Ben sat down on the couch next to his aunt and started jabbering at Luke about the sky hopper model he was in the middle of building.

Soon, Ben jumped up with excitement to get the model so he could show it off.

Luke propped an elbow on the armrest and hid a grin with his fingers to watch the boy run down the hall.

It was best not to say anything about the boy's inherent abilities just yet. Not with the Dane Lendra's hate lurking around the corner and the Gina Lendra's fear right here in the room. Besides, Luke had no desire to spoil this perfect day. The smell of home surrounded him, the warmth of family filled is senses, and the entire galaxy felt brand new.

 


	8. LL3 8 The Lendra Family

** LL3       8         The Lendra Family **

"What the hell?" Han's voice burst out from the innards of the _Falcon_ , "What did she do to this thing?" he cried, and pulled his head out of the gaping hole in the bulkhead. "Chewie, take a look at this."

The Wookiee grunted as he stepped over to glance at the electronics inside. After a quick review, Chewie looked down at him like he was stupid and let out an annoyed _blat_! He walked away to his own problems and hooted at the man again, explaining the modification.

Han paused, "I knew that." He reached his hands in the open panel to squint at the electronics again.

"Sounds like the starship hacker has met his match." A familiar voice called from the passageway and Lando Calrissian stepped into the tiny room where they were working. "I take it Kess has rewired the _Falcon_ behind your back?" He crossed his arms and grinned at Han. "Does that mean it works now?"

Han smiled brightly. "Lando! What are you doing here?"

"I was invited to the Minister of State Reception, was I not?"

Han dropped a shoulder on the wall and hooked a thumb in his belt loop, "Well, yeah, but that's not for another week. I figured Mister Responsible would be flying in at the last possible minute."

"I got bored."

They stared at each other a long moment, both nodding faintly.

"You're out of money, huh?"

"Yup."

Chewie roared out in laughter from the back of the room and the sound sent the other two chuckling at their habitual misfortunes.

Han's laughter drifted away, "So how long are you going to stay?"

"I don't know." Lando stepped to the side and traced a finger along the bulkhead. "Depends on what's going on. Did you hear about the Empire pulling out of those systems in the third quadrant?"

Han sobered and then nodded.

"What are you going to do about it?"

The question almost sounded like it was coming out of a not-so-incognito spy. Han glanced up. "We haven't decided yet."

Lando met his stare looking just as concerned, "What did Luke say?"

Han shook his head, "He doesn't know yet. He and Kess ran off together for a training mission."

"A 'training mission'?" Lando's face cracked a dark grin. "It's about time he stopped acting like a gentleman."

Han shook his head, "No rumors, Lando. He's preaching professionalism until she graduates and we are going to support him." He waved a regal hand, "so ordered by Her Highnessness, anyway."

"Professionalism?" Lando shucked. "Why?"

Han lowered his voice and put his hands on his hips, "Listen, they got in a big fight just before they left and Leia and I still don't know what's going on. I'm sure he's got a lot of good Jedi reasons why he's doing this, so just let him. No rumors. Let them figure it out on their own."

Lando's smile turned to Han, "Better watch it, buddy. It's starting to sound like you care. You wouldn't want to spoil your reputation."

Han gave his a cockeyed grin, "My reputation was ruined the moment I tried to take that kid and his hermit to Alderaan and I've been stuck taking care of Luke ever since."

Lando gave him the same grin in return, "Well step aside for a little while and let Kess take care of him instead."

Han paused and glanced back at Lando.

Lando grinned and shrugged. "What do you think she's been trying to do all this time?"

* * *

Nik chuckled at his sister, putting the clean dishes back into the cupboard, "You never cease to amaze me." He pulled a dozen utensils out of their slots and waved a slotted spoon in the air at her, "Why didn't you comm me? I mean, it's obvious that you have been training for a while, the way you guys act together." He shrugged and tossed the spoon and its mates into a drawer. "It's like you're linked in the head or something."

Kess laughed at him, "It's called the Force, stupid."

"So how long _have_ you been training?"

She leaned in on the bar-counter and shrugged, "I guess about," she had to think about it, "wow, almost a year."

Nik grinned at her revelation.

"Well, time kind of flies when you're busting your thrusters all day long," she defended, waving her hand in the air. "We run five kilometres every morning, even the weekends, work on the same pad all day long and then do four more hours of training after work _every day_."

Nik lifted an eyebrow, "Funny. I can't tell whether or not that was a complaint."

Kess sipped her Retago, "It was both. I just want to get the Apprentice part over with and get on with the Knight part."

Nik deepened his voice to a comical display. "So, I see."

"That's not what I meant."

"Yeah, _sure_ it isn't."

Her voice flattened, "I've come to Tatooine for a reason, Nik."

"I figured as much," he was too engrossed in darting around the kitchen to get too sarcastic, "Force forbid you would come to visit."

Kess folded her fingers together and sighed again. "Grandpa didn't die at the Academy."

That caught Nik's attention.

She sipped her liquor again. "I came to ask Dad about it."

Nik's eyes narrowed and he put a stack of dishes on the counter. "What would he know?" He said bitterly, "All Grandpa's Jedi stuff happened before Mom and Dad got married anyway. Grandma was the only one who knew the whole truth, and she never told anybody."

"Grandma said he left 'to go be a Jedi'. _Dad's_ the one that said it was the Academy."

"So what?"

Kess shook her head. "There's more to it. And Dad knows it." She thumbed over her shoulder at the Jedi in the other room. "I think Dad lied to us just keep us from looking _him_ up."

Nik's motioned slowed. "Do you think he knows what happened to Grandpa?"

"I'm not sure. I think he might. But I'm going to give Dad a chance to come clean first."

Nik's voice boomed. "You're not gonna _tell_ him?" When her eyes dropped to the counter, his voice hiked. "What are you nuts? He's going to skin you alive!"

Kess tried to interrupt.

Nik's voice was as angry as it was panicked, "You put them two in a room together you're signing Dad's death warrant, and it _won't_ be Skywalker's fault!"

Kess met his eyes, but her expression was one he'd never seen. Her confidence was strong that she wasn't going to take any flak from anybody. "He is going to lose it. You're right. But he is going to listen to me. And if he still can't get over it, then he can just comm me when he does. I'm not putting up with it anymore."

Something in her voice convinced Nik that his little sister really did have the means to stand up to their father. Nik dropped his gaze back to the clean up of lunch.

Kess assured with a soft voice and an easy gesture. "It's going to be okay."

Finally, Nik acquiesced and mumbled, "Be careful." It was her skin to lose, so it was her choice. Besides, she had a lightsaber to protect her now. Then he wagged a finger at her, "And I want to hear about it if Grandpa's story does change. Don't wait until the next time you have business on this rock."

"Well, one thing I learned was that old Jedi were celibate, so if he was a Jedi, there's no way he could have been mom's dad."

Nik's eyebrows jumped up.

Kess summarized the chain of events over the last year. She told him everything she learned and her suspicions about what she hadn't confirmed. She left out all detail about the emotion growing between her and Luke, but she covered just about everything else, including her intent to learn the truth about Ben Kenobi and his notorious Jediship.

Their conversation came to a halt when Gina, Luke, and little Ben came in from the parlor. The distraction managed to sweep the rest of Kess' story under the carpet, but she didn't mind. They were already to the point of debating with assumptions instead of facts anyway.

Kess was anxious for the facts.

Luke knew what they were talking about upon walking in, but helped cover up the discomfort with casual banter. All he had to do was look at Kess and she knew it was time to go. She collected her peace for a moment and then started the chatter that they had to get moving.

They had a long drive ahead of them and nightfall would not be delayed by any one of a thousand Jedi tricks.

* * *

It wasn't a town; it was a wide spot in the road. Its only purpose in life was to replenish traveling needs for anyone on the long road to Anchorhead and other farming towns in the south... and Jabba's Palace, once upon a time. Luke looked around as he slowed the speeder-bike into the lodge's barren parking area and glanced around. The lack of business at Jabba's Palace was probably why this place looked so shriveled up because, well, why would anybody want to go to Anchorhead?

The light of day retreated from the giant sky. The approaching night slowly swallowed dome buildings as if to eat them before sand drifts devoured them first.

Luke shut off the power to the bike, let go of the handlebars and sat up straight, glancing to the body that clung to his back. For a while, he thought she fell asleep, or was trying to meditate to prepare for her endeavor, but her grasp tightened when he moved.

He stopped in her grip, staying right where she needed him, just for a moment more.

Finally, he whispered. "I'll be at the lodge." He pulled himself gently out of her grip. "Take all the time you need."

Kess watched his chin turn to her out of the corner of her blankly staring eyes. His hair brushed against her temple and his hands carefully pulled hers away from his chest. She felt safe around him, even when she was scared of him. His peace was comforting and his confidence uplifting, but he was not going to rescue her from her father's temper.

He carefully slid off the bike and let go of her hands. Her shoulders slumped and her head bowed.

"Find your peace," he said softly, dragging the cloaks from her lap.

Kess nodded and closed her eyes, still straddling the bike. "It'll probably be very late," she whispered. "Can I wake you?"

A golden sunset reflected in his sympathetic eyes and the cooling breeze ruffled his hair. Luke's smiled a little. He shook his head, "I won't be asleep."

Kess drew in a breath and swallowed it. She felt alone, abandoned... just as weak and vulnerable as she always did when she faced her father.

Luke stepped up to her side and let his forehead fall onto her temple. His peaceful light dove into her churning cloud of anxiety, touched on a piece of serenity she had forgotten in the corner, and spread it across her entire emotional domain. Kess easily let him in and cuddled her face into his.

"The Force is with you," he whispered, "and so am I." Luke kissed her on the forehead, patted her shoulder, and turned away.

She watched him walk around a short drift to the lobby's dirty entrance and disappear into the building. Kess huffed heavily at the cooling air and shed as much self-pity from her thoughts as she could. She swallowed again, raised her chin, and scooted forward on the bike.

It purred to life in her grip and carried her slowly down the street.


	9. LL3 9 Dane Lendra

** LL3       9         Dane Lendra **

"Hi, Dad," Kess smiled meekly.

Dane Lendra's hazel eyes smiled when they focused on her, but they still looked years tired. "Hello, precious." He greeted her with reserved pleasantry and stepped aside to let her into the tiny apartment. "What brings you here? I wasn't expecting you."

Kess could already smell it on his breath. She strolled down the steps to the tiny living room. "A friend and I were on the way back from a trip and we had a day to kill, so I decided to stop by."

She recognized pieces of furniture from the old homestead, but this place was hardly big enough to fit it all. Empty bottles and dirty glasses littered the tabletops. He must have sold Ran-D44 as well, probably accompanied by some declaration that he would clean his own house himself from now on.

She stuffed her hands in her pockets and sighed at the mess. At least she knew what she was dealing with.

He strutted into the sitting area with his shoulders as hard and square as always, carrying an air of superiority that would make an Admiral humble. The years of hard work in the salt plants still showed in the solid rock muscles of his forearms. Wispy gray hair fell into a leather face. He moved to the kitchen and poured a pair of sweetwaters. "So where's your friend?"

Kess cleared her throat and thought of something quick. "Oh _she_... wanted to check out Market Square, so she's staying in the city for the night."

Dane lumbered back into the sitting room and set down the glasses of blue liquid onto the table. As Kess nervously began to sit down on the couch, her father wrapped his arms around in a suffocating hug. "My precious little girl."

She hugged him lightly in return, taking a moment to appreciate that big chest and arms she remembered fondly.

He pulled back and smiled down, his voice bright. "I've missed you." He offered her a seat on the couch and relaxed back in His Chair, turning off the vid by the worn buttons on the armrest. "How are you?"

Kess shoved a coat aside to clear a spot off the couch and sat down. "I'm good," she said, and she meant it, but this conversation was so very stale. Kess was more nervous than usual. "How are you?"

"Bored stiff," he said as handed her a glass and toasted it in the air. "I should have never retired," he smiled and shot the juice down his throat like it was alcohol.

Kess toasted and sipped the sweet drink. She dropped her gaze, unsure how to begin.

"Are you still fixing those birds for the military?"

"Yeah," she nodded, looking almost confident. "As a matter of fact, I got a temporary promotion to Repair Supervisor." She draped her elbow over the arm of the couch and set her chin with a ' _so there_ '.

The crow's feet around his eyes deepened. "You have always been good at your job, precious. I'm very proud of you." His tone poked with assurances from an old argument. He never liked her in the military, but he always boasted about her work ethic.

Kess waited for him to make his usual suggestions to go get a real job in the civilian sector, make a comment about how much money she could earn, or make a poke at why she wasn't married with a room full of kids by now. He said nothing of the sort. Dad looked at her as if he was waiting for the other shoe to fall.

After a moment, he feigned a casual question, "Are you still wearing the Gold color for them? Or have they transferred you back to a capital ship? I hope they're keeping you safely on the ground."

Kess licked her lips. "I _am_ still on the ground," she swallowed hard… and launched, "But I'm wearing the uh, _Rogue_ color now."

He could blow up all he wanted, but he was not going to break her down. Not this time. Her eyes shifted over to see his reaction.

But Dad didn't blow up. His chin rose, his lips drew in, and his eyes drilled into her. After a moment of intense stare, his eyebrows rose too, "I take it that bishwag has asked you about your grandfather?"

She forced her voice to stay polite. "He has. And his information differs from yours."

Dad heckled angrily, "C'mon, precious. Not one true word ever came out of a Skywalker's mouth." He poured the rest of the sweetwater down his gullet. Instead of getting up to pour another, he just reached for the half-empty bottle of hard liquor on the floor next to His Chair.

"That's what you told me, Dad, but there's too much about the story that doesn't make sense."

Dad grumbled as he swirled the shot in his glass. "What difference does it make? I don't even know the whole story." He threw it down his throat and smacked away a poisonous swig. "All that fodder happened before I met her."

 _Her_. It was as though he couldn't say her name anymore. He couldn't even refer to her as _your mother_.

Now that Kess had Force senses to work with, she could feel the black knot of pain in his chest that had hardened like a permanent tumor. That knot was the fuel that always fired his temper. Anything that had to do with Grandpa was evil, plain and simple. That's the way he saw it. And no matter how much he could hate, or fight, or drink, that knot was not going to go away, and that frustrated him even more.

Kess worked to gather her confidence. "Was Grandpa a Jedi or not?"

Dad looked her in the eye like he was having the last laugh. "He wasn't a Jedi _anymore_."

Kess blinked back.

"He wasn't your grandfather." He grumbled, then yelled. "He _bought_ your mother!" He waved the glass in the air. "Then turned around and freed her so you and Nik could grow up thinking he was some kriffing savior."

Kess sat and listened, although her eyebrows were already in her forehead.

"Kriffing _guilt trip_ is what _he_ was on!" Dad poured another shot into his glass. "By the time I met her he had you and Nik already calling them Grandma and Grandpa."

Kess' eyes stretched farther at what 'Dad' just revealed entirely by accident.

Dad shot it out like they were still in debate about the whole thing. "If they wanted to dictate who she was going to marry, they never should've freed her in the first place."

Slowly, carefully, Kess shifted in her seat to reach for the bottle in his hand. Dad eyed her hard and Kess eyed him back, gently pulling the bottle from his grip. As soon as she had it, she poured a shot into her own sweetwater glass for herself.

Kess set the bottle aside and toasted him with respect. "You raised us as your own."

Dad blinked slowly, smacked dry lips and shrugged clumsily, "I loved her." That was all the answer he had.

Kess flashed an incredulous laugh and rolled her head on her neck.

"We would've been fine if he didn't keep sticking his _'civilized'_ nose in our family business," Dad grumbled. "He kept showing up and trying to get us to let you and Nik spend the weekend over there." He motioned for her to pour some more for them both.

Distracted to absorb all of this, Kess poured.

Dad nitpicked, "He wasn't her father, he wasn't your grandfather, and he's not your owners. You're _my_ family now. He had no right. _No right_." He shot the drink down his throat. His words slurred. "I should've turned in that bishwag for the bounty."

"How much was his bounty?"

"Enough to set us up for life," he scratched the stubble on his chin and looked around his dinky apartment. "But she wouldn't let me."

This was the first time Kess ever wanted him drunk. She snuck in questions in hopes he wouldn't notice them and just answer. "Why wouldn't you let him train us?"

Dane looked at her like he was just noticing who was sitting there. His face hardened. " _Your grandfather kriffed up, Kesselia!"_ He taunted. "Is that what you want to know?"

Impossible, Kess instinctively thought, Ben Kenobi was infallible.

"And he left you because he was trying to _fix it_! Obi-Wan didn't give one rot about what leaving would do to his family. You and Nik put him on a pedestal, but you have no idea how much was _his fault!_ "

" _Obi-Wan_?" Kess echoed. "But Grandpa's name was—

It knocked the wind right out of her.

Dad continued. "It's because of _him_ that Skywalker turned Vader in the first place! It's because of _him_ that billions of people are dead when they shouldn't be. The _entire kriffing war_ started over Obi-Wan Kenobi's _piss poor_ 'Jedi' training!"

Kess put a palm over her open mouth and dropped back in the couch. _It was the same man!_

Dad continued to rant. "And since he was the last one left alive to train _little_ Skywalker, I wouldn't trust _anybody_ claiming to be a Jedi these days." He shoved to his feet and moved to the kitchen. "Trust me, precious, you want to stay as far away from that shik family as you can get."

Kess sat up and leaned her elbows on her knees, assuring in a soft plea, "Luke's not like that, dad."

He turned slowly to her. His voice died to a grisly whisper, "He's trying to get you to train, isn't he?"

Her stomach dropped. Kess closed her eyes and prayed.

He strolled back over and stood in front of her across the drink table. "That's why you're here, isn't it? You want my _permission_?" He whined the ludicrously of the term at her. "You want my _blessing_?" His voice boomed a hearty shout. "Well, YOU _CAN'T HAVE IT_!"

Kess shot to her feet and whispered fast and hard. "I don't need your permission or your—

A hand struck her cheek before she realized it was coming.

His voice was suddenly cold and quiet. "Don't you start kriffing up like your grandfather did. Don't you start."

Kess leaned back and cooled the sting on her cheek with her palm. She sighed to regain her patience.

"You just stay away from him, precious." He ordered icily and began to turn away again. "He's nothing but trouble."

"I'm in love with him," Kess blurted.

His mouth twisted in disgust and a jagged voice flatted her self-esteem, "You _what_?"

She blinked several times and her confidence started to melt, but she lowered her hand from her face and hissed it again, facing this down. "I'm—

His fist met her mouth the same time his voice growl echoed against the walls. "You little _whore_!"

She fell against the couch and tasted the blood on her lips. She closed her eyes to find any kind of peace to keep from losing her own temper. Within the space of a second, he grabbed her shirt and yanked her back to her feet.

She saw his fist coming back for her face and Kess realized that this conversation was already over.


	10. LL3 10 The Long Story

** LL3       10 The Long Story **

Luke rolled over in the double-wide bed and stuffed his hand under the pillow, still wide-awake at two in the morning, Tatooine time. It was actually five in the morning by his inner clock, Yavin time. Just as he had guessed, he hadn't gotten any sleep.

He wanted to peek so badly, but he kept his senses slammed shut to the point that he couldn't even sense her location on the planet. She had to do this alone; he kept reminding himself of that.

She had to be a Jedi alone.

He kicked off the sheet and rolled onto his back, violently forcing his thoughts into another meditation, which worked about as well as surviving space by just holding your breath.

A quiet rap on the door interrupted him.

Luke raised his head and opened his mind, immediately detected her presence, and shot off the bed. He fumbled with the lock and flipped the switch, and when his eyes focused on Kess, his jaw dropped.

She glared at him from under a purple eyebrow. Her lower lip was cracked and her shirt was badly torn. "I hope you're happy now," she hissed, pushing passed him into the room. She limped to the bed and gingerly sat down on the foot of the bed.

Luke yanked himself from his shock, slammed the door, and locked it. He rushed over and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Are you all right?" he breathed, reaching for the bruised temple but winced and backed away before he touched anything.

She slapped his hand away. "I'm fine," she snapped, "just don't touch me." Pissed off and hurt, she ripped the rest of the shirt from her shoulders and threw it to the stone floor.

Luke's eyes widened at the bra staring back at him. He quickly closed his mouth and backed away on the floor like a frightened animal. The shirt was falling apart anyway so he would have done the same thing. But when his eyes moved away from barely-concealed breasts, he noticed a bruise shading her left wrist.

They shouldn't have taken the cast off so soon.

Luke scrambled off the floor with a mumble, "Let me get you some ice."

Kess glared at him as he disappeared into the bathroom. She tried to reach for her feet, but pain shot up her leg when she bent over and she sat up again with a gruesome wince.

Luke came out of the bathroom with a cold pack and a dry rag, now remembering they were on the planet that _invented_ the drought. He tossed the useless rag on the bed and handed her the cold pack.

"What happened?" he asked quietly and went to the chair to fetch his shirt.

"He beat me up!" She bleated. "Do I have to draw you diagrams!?" She waved her hand in the air. She tried to reach for her boots again and failed.

Luke gave her an indignant look and brought the wrap-around tunic to her shoulders. "You know that's not what I meant."

Kess hissed impatiently, "No lectures now, okay? Will you just— help me take off my boots?" She pulled the ivory cloth around her shoulders and could smell Luke in its fabric. She wrapped it hard around her and her anger saddened. She closed her eyes with a violent curse.

Luke sighed and lowered to his knees again. His fingers began to unravel the laces from one boot. Kess fell back on the bed and started to unbutton the folds in her baggy pants. Luke stopped short, but convinced himself that there was probably a _medical_ reason why she was stripping in his hotel room. He continued to pull the boot gently off her foot until a hard lump in an otherwise baggy pant leg jerked downward.

His lips parted as he realized what it was. When the boot came away, the lightsaber fell into his hand. He looked at it with disappointment. "You didn't tell him."

"He stopped listening long before I got to that part," she grunted and sat up again, wincing as she pushed the pants over her hips. "But two out of three ain't bad. I didn't lose my temper and I didn't hate him for his point of view."

Luke rapped the hilt on his forehead with a tested sigh. He set it on the ground. He brought his attention to the other boot. By the time he'd gotten it off, she pushed the pants all the way down to follow the rest of her clothes to the floor.

 _Medical_ , he insisted to himself. Luke sat on the bed next to her to tend to her wounds, but she gave him a look to kill the moment he reached. His hands went in the air, "Okay, okay." He was forced to just watch as she laid the cold pack gingerly on a black and blue hip.

Luke looked her up and down, sitting there in her underwear and his shirt, she was beaten and bruised as though she hadn't fought back. But he _told_ her not to fight back. He didn't know he had to tell her it was okay to defend herself. He didn't know her father was going to do this. He didn't know what she was getting into. He even whispered it aloud in overwhelming guilt, "I didn't know."

Kess gave up on her hip and nearly slapped the cold pack on her eyebrow. Apparently, that bruise didn't hurt as much. "Would it have made a difference? You still would have sent me to face him."

Luke's eyes darted to her and darted away. He nodded at his lap.

Kess watched him sadly. His shoulders bulged from his sleeveless undershirt with strength yet he sat there like beaten pup.

Kess sighed, looked around the air a bit, and began to grin with fresh anger, "Ben Kenobi…"

Luke glanced over, guarded.

"And 'Master' Obi-Wan..." she squinted over to him, "same guy?"

Reluctance stretched across his mouth. He added quickly, "But I didn't know that until he showed up that day in the clearing. You never told me what his name was."

Kess nodded distantly at that.

The cold pack fell to the bed in her mental digression and Luke took it from her hand. With a look of sympathy, he placed it gently on her bruised shoulder again. She glanced at him, ready to snap again, but her expression was falling apart. She licked the drying blood from her lip and her brows knotted together.

Luke's free hand touched on the small of her back and she hesitantly fell into his shoulder. His chin rested on her forehead and his arms closed around her, eventually just tossing the cold pack away.

Her body didn't quiver with the usual signs of a good cry. Tears just dripped down her cheeks from a wide-eyed stupor. "I think," she whispered into his neck, "I think you owe me that terribly long story now."

She could hear his voice rumbling in his chest, "Let me tell you in the morning. You—

"No." She pulled away just enough to look him hard in the eye, already shaking her head. "Tell me _now_."

Luke saw her eyes pleading at him for a morsel of truth and nodded obedience. "All right." He pulled her into his arms again and sucked in a chest full of air.

Kess closed her eyes and listened to his voice from his breast. She drank in the smell of him and felt his arm around her, and, for the moment, she felt safe again. He brushed the frazzled hair to her back and stared into the air as he began to truly talk. "I was about 19 when it started. Uncle Owen needed a unit for the west end vaporator, and Aunt Beru needed a droid that spoke Bocce..."

Over the next several hours, Luke talked like he never had before, telling her the tale as he lived it. He told her about meeting Han and saving Leia. He told her about trying to train by himself on Hoth, about seeking out Yoda on Dagobah. Eventually, she pulled away from his arms to lay down on the bed. She was exhausted but still listening. Luke kept talking, complaining, admitting, and reliving all the intricate details that got him from Then to Now. He propped his elbow into the pillow and rested his head in his hand and he told her everything. Everything. He was telling her about the regret he felt when his father died when he realized just how much he was saying out loud.

He paused in the middle of his sentence, looked at her drooping eyelids, and realized again who he was talking to. Luke grinned to recognize how comfortable it was just to talk to her.

Kess blinked slowly, whispering more in support than curiosity, "So what did you do?"

Luke blinked and thought back, "I um… I took his body with me back to Endor and I cremated him there." His eyes darted to the sliver of empty bed that was between them. "I didn't tell Leia and Han about him until later. They were all so happy. I didn't want to spoil it for them on the first Victory Day."

Kess softly put her palm on his cheek. She brushed her thumb across his lips and dropped her hand again. Luke stared tenderly at her as she did it. He saw the bruises on her face, the tiny cut on her lip, and the fatigue in her eyes. "Go to sleep," he whispered.

She rubbed her lips together and slowly blinked. "Isn't there more of the story?"

He watched her cuddle her head deeper into the pillow, scooting closer to him. "Yes," he whispered back, "but the rest can wait until later."

Kess sighed a joke into his shoulder, "Yeah, you'll tell me when I'm ready."

"No." Luke wrapped his arms around her, lowered his head to the pillow, and closed his eyes. "I'll tell you when you're rested."


	11. LL3 11 Wake Up

** LL3       11        Wake up **

Mid-morning suns shined angled beams of light through the skylights and lit up the dust like wingless fireflies.

Luke's still-waking eyes focused on smooth curves of skin to realize only now that he'd fallen asleep with her. He was still in his pants, but she wasn't in hers. Sleek legs tangled softly into his. The white tunic covered her torso too loosely. The neckline drifted off her shoulder. A bra peeked out from the fold of cotton.

With his free hand, Luke rubbed the dream from his eye and looked down again to see if the half-naked woman was still there.

Blond hair draped gently over his real hand, draping lightly across his fingers. The Jedi trick worked much better than any cold pack would have. Her purple bruises had healed to yellow during the night. Warm breath danced across his chest where her head cuddled into his shoulder. She was fast asleep.

Luke carefully put his arm back down so he could lay there for a while. He chose a safe spot for his hand to go on her waist, over the cloth of the shirt. He demanded his fingers to stay put despite the lure to drift gently away.

He rested his mouth against her forehead and closed his eyes. Luke drank up this gorgeous feeling as long as it lasted.

She started to wake up on her own. She tightened her grip around his waist and started to stretch like a cat before she realized the big, warm dream wrapped around her was a real body.

Her movement stopped.

Other than grinning against her forehead, Luke didn't move a muscle. Cuddling with her like this was growing more dangerous by the minute. He was breaking his own rules, but right now, all he wanted was her, if only just to lay there for a little while longer.

She slithered deeper into his grip, trying to pretend she was still asleep. His fingers inadvertently slipped around to the small of her back and rested unintentionally on her naked skin. He closed his eyes and froze in place before he did something really stupid.

She relaxed in his grip and rested, enjoying this accident as long as she could get away with it.

After a few minutes, they were both too awake to fake it anymore. They both fought a chuckle.

"What are you thinking?" she whispered into his collarbone.

Luke didn't move an iota when he said it, "I'm thinking how easy it would be to make love to you right now."

The words sent shivers up her spine.

He smiled at her reaction. "What are you thinking?"

Her breath brushed across his neck, "How much I wish you would."

He inhaled a deep, loud breath and shifted his head so he could look her in the eyes. Her eyes glazed with the same desire and the same disappointed reality. All it would take was one caress of fingertips, or one soft slither, or one centimetre of distance between mouths.

They both closed their eyes. Luke bit his lower lip. Kess gritted her teeth.

She carefully removed her arm from his side the same time he separated his hand from her back. In unspoken unison, they unenthusiastically and deliberately moved away from each other, and quickly climbed off the bed.

 


	12. LL3 12 Luke and Dane

** LL3       12        Luke and Dane **

Luke skipped down the steps of the lodge with a complaint. "How much longer do you want to wait?"

"I'll try again this afternoon," Kess assured from behind him. "I just want him to sober up first. He's probably still passed out on the floor somewhere—

They emerged onto the empty street. Luke squinted at the sunshine the same time she sensed around. Not one body was in the area besides the two of them, and they could see the empty road out of town for kilometres in every direction, but they both detected the anger, and both turned in time to see a man storming out of the door of a cantina across the street.

Robes of dark earth covered a solid frame. Eyes of stone drilled holes into Luke. By the time Dane marched crossed the sand to them, Luke squared his own shoulders and drilled blue eyes of anger right back at him.

Kess rushed to step between the two, raising her hands to stop her father, "Dad, calm down—

Dane dismissed her with a backhand across the face and kept on going. Kess' head whiplashed away and stayed there, struggling to keep her cool.

Luke narrowed his eyes at the old man just as Dane stepped up and got into his face.

Dane ordered him, "I'm giving you one chance to walk away."

Eye to eye, Luke stared him down with a firm tone of his own. "You already know that's not going to happen."

Dane pretended to pace away from him but only brought his fist around at Luke's face.

Luke didn't need to move. He grabbed Dane's punch out of the air with his real hand the same time he sent his own metal fist against the old man's jaw. Dane's head whipped backward. His body crumbled to the ground in a heap. Kess spun with shock at Luke's display.

Luke ignored her.

He wasn't finished.

Luke towered over him. Both hands grabbed a firm hold on the man's tunic and lifted the drunkard upright again. Luke didn't go so far as to lift Dane's feet off the ground. He _could_ , but he didn't have to.

Dane spat blood from his mouth and his face wrinkled with the battle between violent wrath and absolute terror. Luke brought his face nose-to-nose with the man and hissed low and evil, "How do you expect to meet your grandchildren if you keep beating the flak out of your daughter?"

Dane's expression twitched. Luke dropped him to stand on his own two feet and shoved the man backwards by the shoulders.

Dane's feet narrowly found balance as he stumbled backward. "You just keep away from her!" He shouted, his voice losing its superiority by the second. "Stay out of my family!" His slur was becoming obvious as he wandered farther away. "You blasted... son of a..." His growl melted into the depressed ramblings of drunk. "My wife's dead because of you people."

Luke turned to Kess, but stress still pumped through his temples. "Are you all right?"

Kess just stared at Luke, dumbfounded of what she just saw.

Luke eyed the man walking a wavy line back to the cantina and turned his own feet back toward the lodge. "Don't let him hit you this time," he ordered quietly.

Kess closed her mouth, nodded at the ground, and trotted to a run to catch up with her father.

The cantina was empty except for the Twi'lek tender behind the bar. The green woman raised a brow at them as Dane fumbled for his chair and Kess tried to help to keep him from hurting himself in the process. Struggling and scraping furniture against the stone floor, they sat down at a table Dane had been apparently living in for hours.

Kess slumped, and hid her face in her hands for an exasperated sigh. She had been hoping he was sleeping it off all this time but he was just making it worse. She wanted to wait until he was sober before trying this again, but the Force was not with her on that account.

"It's the company you keep, precious," Dane crooned tiredly as if they had been talking about trouble with bullies at school.

Kess flopped her hands onto the filthy tabletop with a teenager's whine. "Dad, you just swung at _Luke Skywalker_."

Dane grabbed a half-empty drink and wagged a finger at her nose. "And I'll do it again if ever gets near you."

She slapped a hand over her eyes. Kess was tired of this; absolutely _sick and tired_ of her father blowing up over every little thing that wasn't precisely the way he wanted it. She was sick of the dictating and the lying, sick of the yelling and the hitting, and sick of this ridiculous blame that every Jedi in the galaxy was responsible for his problems. "Luke has never done a thing to you."

The fire re-ignited in his eyes, "I don't care if you slap a Jedi label on it, _no one_ has the right to that kind of power." He shoved a thumb over his shoulder. "D'you have any idea what that man is capable of?"

"But he _doesn't_! That's the point!" She leaned over the table and fought back. "He doesn't hurt me, dad. I only get the crap beat out of me when I'm with you!"

"That's 'cause he's not on the dark side yet." Dane rubbed his head and mussed up his own hair. "You just wait."

"You don't need to be a Jedi to be on the dark side," Kess said, and realized what she was saying.

Her eyes flicked to her father.

"What? Now you think _I'm_ the villain here? You came to me, 'member?"

Kess breathed carefully out of her open mouth. She reached slowly over and put a calming hand on his wrist. She looked her father in the eyes and spoke softly. "Luke works very hard not to hurt me," she told him, "even when he has to."

"Why would he 'have to'?" Dane challenged.

While her eyes kept his attention, her free hand pulled the drink from his fingers. "I _am_ a Jedi, Dad. Whether you like it or not. You want to bang me up every time I come home, fine." She tossed the alcohol over her shoulder and put the empty glass back on the table. "I'll just stop coming home. Is that what you want?"

Dane's foggy eyes watched her dispose of the drink and started to search the table for another. "Well, no, precious—

She kept a warm, gentle hand on his wrist and slowly stood from the table. "I love you, Dad. Do you know that?"

Dane rubbed his eye with his free hand. "I know, baby. But you piss me off—

"Yeah, I know." She gently pulled him to his feet. "Come here. Stand up. Give me a hug."

Dane knocked over the chair when he stood up. He wrapped his arms around her like a dead bear. He wasn't hurting her on purpose; just like he wasn't on the dark side on purpose.

He patted her back like he was consoling her but pounded her lungs so hard that she coughed. Kess braced herself for the blow and grinned with new understanding.

One constant hand on his arm, gentle in her guidance, directly connected her influence to calm his drunk anger. She used the Force to Persuade him to walk away from the table with her, arm in arm.

As they passed the bar, Kess whispered over her shoulder at the Twi'lek tender. "Do you have a clinic in town?"

The Twi'lek woman looked up, confused.

Kess struggled to keep her father upright. "One with a bacta tank."

The bartender pushed away from her work with a nod and mustered up a little help.

 


	13. LL3 13 Tatooine Sunsets

** LL3       13        Tatooine Sunsets **

Luke stepped out into the fading daylight and spotted Kess immediately. Beyond the edge of town, giant sand dunes stretched out to a peach horizon. The sunsets behind the dusty ripples looked close enough to reach out and touch, but a mahogany dot on the crest of the first big dune broke the optical illusion. Luke shrugged off the hood of his cloak and started strolling in that direction.

All day long, he stayed out of the way as much as he could, but couldn't help touching on her surface emotions from time to time to make sure she was okay. He wasn't sure what he would have done if she wasn't, but he checked on her anyway. As the hours passed, her darkest sides spiked right beside her father's, but she used those opportunities to wash away the darkness from both souls with words.

She struggled to stumble her father into the clinic. Then she fought him outright to get him into the bacta tank. She screamed at him and he screamed back. Kess struggled to keep her wits about her when she used the Force to pin down the larger man so the Two-One-Bee could sedate him.

Hours later, once the alcohol was purged from his blood stream, Kess sat by his side in medbay until he came to. By then, she was filled with sullenness and he was raging with an entirely different kind of desperation. Kess argued with him, over and over again, promising he could have another drink as soon as she left, but not before.

She walked her father back to his apartment where they talked for hours longer. He swung at her on occasion, still shaking with detox despite the soothing prescriptions to appease it, but Kess blocked him back with the Force, letting him rage as much as he wanted as long as he stayed on the other side of the room. The man paced like a predator trapped in a cage and shouted for hours.

Luke could detect a progression as the day went on. The anger came out first, then the bitterness, and it slowly devolved into a gut-knotting pain. The pain dulled to sorrow, and the sorrow exhausted the man to sleep. That's when Kess left her father alone in his own house and perched herself on a sand dune to meditate the rest of it away by herself.

Luke waited for her consciousness to blink alert again before he went to find her. As his boots sank into the fresh drift beneath her perch, he cranked open his senses and drank in the peace flowing from her. She was glowing as bright as the suns reflecting off the sand.

His boots crumbled part of the dune beside her and sent a small wave of sand to tumble away. Her hair hung in braid-kinked ripples down the mocha cloak. A lock of hair fluttered in the cooling breeze over a tear-stained cheek, but brown eyes were already dry, staring dumbstruck at the pink horizon.

Luke sat down beside her, propped his elbows on his knees, and stared out to the vast sand ocean as well.

Kess whispered, "Mom was already pregnant with me when Dad met her. He doesn't know who—" She paused, then opening her eyes wider at the pink sky. "All he knows is that Nik is only my _half_ brother." She swallowed to speak in voice, but it was dry and tired. "Grandma and Grandpa _bought_ us so they could free us. That's why I'm named after them both. And then Mom stayed as their housekeeper until Dad came along."

Luke listened in supportive silence.

"I never could get Grandpa to admit he was in the military. It was because he _wasn't_." Kess rubbed her lips hard together. "But… when he talked about losing 'family' in the war, losing his 'brother'..." Brown eyes turned to look at Luke again and grinned painfully. "Grandpa never said his _name_."

Luke pursed his lips and looked guiltily at his own feet.

Kess stared back out at the sunsets, but released the hold on her knees so her legs could stretch down into the slope. "Mom won that vacation to Alderaan while he was off on one of his little trips. Grandma always covered for him when he went on his 'little trips', even when he was gone for months," she explained. "Eventually, the one trip came when he didn't come back," Kess shrugged it off as if she expected that all along, but shook her head to truly realize the other side of the coin, "and it was so he could go train _you_."

Luke gazed at the sand.

"And all we had left was Dad." Kess shook her head absently, remembering. "And Dad had nobody." She closed her eyes and took in the dry air for a sigh. She blinked her eyes open again, still watching the sunset. "I've never seen Dad cry before."

Luke thought on that with respect.

Kess watched the perfect, round sun dip beyond the horizon and send a mirage of pink and lavender heat waves over the far off sand. She whispered distantly, "Do you ever cry?"

Luke paused but nodded, "Mm-hm."

"When?" She sat up, looking at him now. "When was the last time you cried?"

Nervous eyes darted to the sand as he inhaled. He held his breath a moment as he found the words. His entire sigh escaped as he met her eyes. "The night my apprentice quit."

Kess met his gaze with doleful eyes, not having not expected anything close to that response.

Luke shrugged meekly.

Kess settled beside him, looping her hand through his elbow and hugged his arm to watch the rest of the sunset. Her Force was shining brighter than he'd ever seen in her before. The long turmoil of the day snapped that last dark string like a stubborn twig. Her Jedi meditations washed away the pieces that were left floating in its wake.

The only emotions left to color her Force Print looked like the sunsets; the yellow glow of contentment, the warm peach of pleasant happiness, the pale pink of comfortable love, and a pale orchid of sadness. Now that she knew the whole long story, and understood more facets of it, her sadness was only in empathy for the pain endured by all those key figures in her history: the Lendras, the Kenobis, and the Skywalkers.

Even the Darth ones.

Luke grinned sheepishly at his feet to realize it: now her Force print probably looked better than his.

 

 

 

 


	14. LL3 14 Luke's Toughest Test

** LL3       14        Luke's Toughest Test **

Luke was still buttoning up his shirt when he stepped onto the cockpit. He looked at the streaks of stars through the window, doing his own navicomp calculations in his head about their course, drastically off the beaten path of hyperspace routes, before glancing at Kess.

"How was your shower?" She asked without taking her eyes off the datapad.

Luke's eyes narrowed on her for a second and then he leaned to the environmental controls to turn up the heat a little. "It was fine," he said carefully, knowing she was about to pop out something new at him.

Her voice brightened. "You know, I was thinking while you were in there."

Luke dropped into the pilot's chair. "Yes," he smirked, "I kept sensing deceit from this part of the ship."

She ignored his comment and cocked her head. "I was thinking about this haphazard curriculum of yours." She tossed the reading aside and swiveled her chair around to him. "And I was thinking about your terribly long story of your own years of training. And all the little details you had to overcome because your Jedi Masters kept dying on you."

Luke patiently folded his hands together on his lap, grinning as he waited for the other shoe to fall. "Okay...?"

She grinned, "And, well, since your final test was facing your father, my final test should be the same, wouldn't you think? So what's to say I'm not finished?"

Luke's eyes darted to the open hatch and, incidentally, to the bunk in the other room. He tried not to let the twinkle of humanity color his attempt Master's wisdom. He lowered his eyes. "The physical act of facing down your father, or me facing mine, had little to do with it."

Kess' childish coaxing melted a little. The argument was worth a try, but she knew all along that literally going up against her father was not the point of the exercise. It was about facing her dark emotions. She wondered what was left that she had left to face. She couldn't really sense any other skeletons in her soul to have to deal with, well, except for her feelings for Luke, but he wasn't going to make her 'face' that one more than they already had... _would he?_

Then she realized facing off the emotions of their relationship were just as new to him as it was for her. She stared out at the stars and the vast sea of space to think on it. Somehow, space didn't seem as big as that ocean of sand outside that little town. Her voice was as far away as her thoughts. "May I ask you a personal question?"

Luke's eyes shifted, this time with concern of his own self-confidence. Rarely did she ask permission to ask a personal question, and the question was never personal when she did, but her questions always seemed to prod at his heartbeat. Soon, his heartbeat would no longer be his own to control. He mumbled and leaned back in the chair. "Sure."

She didn't continue immediately and, for the moment she was silent, he daydreamed about what the question would be. He caught his thoughts wandering and reeled them in again, the mental action becoming more tedious by the day. Luke whispered, in his mind, his answer to the question he'd imagined. _Yes, I do._

"When you were training, what was the hardest thing for you to overcome?"

Luke's dismissed his previous thought and yanked his mind back to the present, just so he could send it into the past. His whole training rolled itself into a split second, all the quiet notes of confidence and correction from Obi-Wan and Yoda rattled off in one long sentence and wrapped themselves into a single word. The answer was indisputable. And, in the present situation, he wondered if he would ever get it right. He tapped his thumbnail on his lower lip twice, half-hiding and half-admitting his own grin. "Patience."

Kess gave him that look again, curious, surprised, disbelieving. "Patience?" she echoed like the idea was preposterous. "You?"

Luke let his full smile shine at her as he leaned forward in the chair, resting his elbows onto his knees with a guilty sigh.

Brown eyes twinkled and she leaned forward on her own knees. Her husky voice hinted a playful insinuation that Luke was growing to crave, "How did you conquer it?"

Luke didn't back away this time. He stared into her eyes. "I'm not sure I have," he admitted coolly. "The training may end, but the trials never do."

"Really." She folded her arms across her knees. She eyed him curiously, but didn't try too hard to fake a professional conversation. "Has your patience been tested recently then?"

Luke cocked his head, rubbed his lips together, and grinned his affirmative. "You have no idea."

She smiled at that and stayed intent on his eyes despite the humor in her whisper. "Since you're the one in complete control of all this, it'll be interesting to see how long your _patience_ holds out." Kess raised an eyebrow _en guarde_.

The heat in his eyes made her start to wonder how close he was to running out of patience. He trapped her in a stare that made her feel like a teenager all over again. He reached forward and his mouth parted with a slow, clean inhale. His nose brushed against hers.

And he stopped.

Luke's eyes shifted briskly away in thought, "Mm, no." He said as easily as if he'd just decided to skip dessert and backed away, the joke dancing across his voice. "I have a little more patience left in me."

Kess closed her mouth and blinked.

Luke sat back in his chair and heckled at her.

She tightened her jaw not to smile and narrowed her eyes to keep them from sparkling.

The Force was wide open. He wouldn't say it, but he wasn't hiding it either. And Luke knew damned well she was basking in this strawberry soda too.

Soon, his giggle calmed with a happy, parent-like sigh.

Luke weaved his fingers together in front of him. "When we get back, I'm going to go over all my notes and try to determine exactly what you have left to do," he offered. "You've gotten through what was probably the hardest part. You've been at a new level of since Dagobah. And the emotional symbolism behind facing your father dug out the dark core that was heading your ability to master everything else." His voice gradually drifted back to business as he defended his decision. "I want to see you perfect the other exercises a little more. Now that the dark core is gone, it should be a piece of cake."

Kess leaned back in the swivel chair and studied him seriously. She let her accusation out gently, but still quick enough to catch him off guard. "Why are you so scared to graduate me?"

Luke's smile vanished.

Words of innocence and defense stopped in his throat. He looked away uncomfortably, cursing himself. He should have known from the beginning, should have seen it coming months ago, it would only be a matter of time before she saw through him like a pane of glass.

His façade no longer worked with her. His seriousness, his firmness, his decided logic, and religiously practiced serenity... all crumbled away from the duties of teaching by example because their effectiveness had disintegrated. He wondered why she would ask permission to ask a 'personal question' that wasn't personal, and blurt out anything else that would slap him across the face.

His voice grated through his throat. "I want to be sure I didn't miss something." He licked parched lips and met her eyes timidly. "I'm afraid I made too many mistakes."

"It's too late to regret mistakes, Luke." Her voice was quiet and wise. "This training can't go on forever."

By his own reaction, he recognized that what she said was true. He was scared to cut her loose. Seeing her alone every day for training, having her look up to him the way she did and humbly follow his Jedi direction had all gotten too comfortable. He was too attached to her; too scared to hand over the controls and let her fly solo. He could lose her again if he did it too early.

And based on how she handled the Battle of the Y-wing, he could lose her if he did it too late.

The severity in their locked stare was equal—

**Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt…**

Kess looked to the blinking red light and thumbed the button to shut it up. "That's one hell of a short cut."

Luke shook his head. "We shouldn't be there yet." He flipped on the sensors, flipped off the collision detector, and killed hyperspace. Lines of light slowed to pinpoints and a beautiful night sky filled the window. "Were we flying into someone's path?"

Kess went to the scopes and punched at the IFF buttons. "There's nobody here." She checked the navicomputer. "We're twenty-nine light-years from the nearest system, and that's only Felucia." She looked out at the blackness of space broken only by the stars. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Why would the collision detector go off?"

Luke leaned back in the pilot's seat, staring out the window and chewing on the inside of his cheek. He shook his head with an, 'I don't know', then the Force tingled at them both.

Luke straightened his back, grabbing the throttle. Kess went back to the monitors, raising shields and tapping on the IFF buttons again.

"Oh boy," she sighed.

"Where are they?" His voice was stiff.

"One-two-six by four-four-six."

Luke yanked the stick in that direction as she continued the report. "Distance at two point three six. Seven— no, eight targets... _nine_." She looked out the window to see them. "They're still coming out of hyperspace."

His mouth tightened as they came into view, and he immediately cut all power to the thrusters and they floated in space like a dead gnat. They were still far enough away to be invisible to the naked eye, and no power meant no sensors would detect their little transport ship.

An entire fleet of Star Destroyers came out of hyperspace and began massing for real space travel. Luke stared at the collection in thought. They were far away from any inhabited systems, far from any public routes, and deep in Alliance territory.

Luke began to regret not calling Leia for the past two weeks.

Kess whispered in the silence. "Aren't you going to ask them what they're doing here?"

Luke turned to her like she was nuts, "In this pea shooter?"

She grinned, "The Big Bad War Hero is going to run from a couple of measly Star Destroyers?"

Luke shot her a glare and leaned over to the navicomputer. "My dear Apprentice, one of the most important things you will ever learn is knowing when _not_ to fight."

She stuck her tongue in her cheek. "So what are we going to do?"

Luke turned back to the console, grabbed the throttle for the light speed engines, and pulled back. He let out a cockeyed grin, "We're gonna run home and tell Mom."

 


	15. LL3 15 Arriving Home

** LL3       15        Arriving Home **

 

**ZHELLDAY**

The tiny transport ship came out of hyperspace and sailed around the glowing orange planet of Yavin. The emerald moon that lay beyond was encircled with fleets of Mon Calamari cruisers, Corellian frigates, and Bothan battleships. Kess watched in awe as Luke slowed the ship and weaved around the buzzing battle groups.

"Looks like it's going to be one hell of a party."

Kess realized that the Minister of State reception was _today_ and these were the flagships for every politician in the New Alliance, here to represent their systems in the snobbiest of festivities. She pursed her lips and made a bet that she wouldn't meet one person at the Minister of State reception that really knew how to party. It was too bad she had to behave herself while she was there.

Luke spoke flatly into the mike. "Yavin Control; _Sundry Van_ : Come in, please. Over."

A moment of crackle sounded before they heard Joanne's delighted response. " _Sundry Van_ ; Yavin Control: Good afternoon and welcome home! Over."

Luke grinned when he recognized her voice, "Control; _Sundry Van_ : Request permission to approach. Vector two-six-two and seven-seven-five. Distance three-point-seven-five... "

In the control tower, Joanne spotted the blip on her monitors and started punching in the necessary numbers. " _Sundry Van_ ; Control: Switch to secured channel two-six to send your clearance code and _state your cargo_. Over." She ordered it gallantly.

The right numbers blinked on in the right place on her console, and Commander Skywalker's voice came back on the secured channel just this side of stale. " _Sundry Van_ on secured channel two-six. Clearance code sent. Passengers only. Over."

The green light blinked on: Clearance code accepted. Joanne looked out the giant window of the tower and watched a dot move from the sky to the horizon. She kept tapping the controls and reading readings to get them down through the zoo of air traffic. She keyed into to flight ops on Pad 36 as she engaged Skywalker in a chat, just to see what kind of mood he was in. " _Sundry Van_ , Control: Did you have a good vacation, sir? Over."

Pad 36 Flight Ops reported in her other ear to wait until they cleared a transport zone. She switched to that channel for a moment to respond to Pad 36.

Back in the ship, Luke glanced at Kess and to the growing view of the base.

Kess smiled in caring, "She's worried about me."

Luke nodded, understanding, and switched back onto the ops channel with a deliberate grin in his voice, "Control, _Sundry Van_ : Glad to report that we've resumed Standard Operating Procedure. Over." His carefully cryptic statement was safe for everybody's ears and still transmitted the message the girly girls were anxious to hear.

Joanne saw the dot in the sky that was becoming a knot in the sky. She smiled into the mike. " _Sundry Van_ , Control: Thank you, sir. I'll pass that along. Over."

A thousand different pilots would be impatient for a landing pattern by now, but with all the family coming to visit, most of the procedures took a few beats longer than usual. Joanne was a little surprised when Skywalker wasn't aggravated like everyone else, but he did sound a little sarcastic. "I don't mean to bother you, Joanne, but would you mind finding us a place to park?"

Landing the _Sundry Van_ was the last incoming ship for Joanne's morning watch. She ripped off the headset and hopped out of the chair as soon as they dipped into the open doors of Pad 36. Her relief didn't give the chair a chance to get cold and was landing more ships by the time Joanne dove into the break room in the back of the tower. She grabbed a drink, fell into a squeaky chair, and punched in a number at the comm port.

Kayla's stepped to the comm port and flipped it on. "Korbosi."

"Hey, girly girl." Joanne greeted as her smile sizzled onto the screen. "Guess who's home?"

"They're back?" Kayla peeped brightly. Shorkey stepped up beside her with several datapads in his hands and waited for her attention while blatantly eavesdropping.

"They're landing right now," Joanne clarified. "Did you pick up the dress yet?"

Kayla dropped her volume, "No, not yet. Could you tell? How did they sound?"

Joanne smiled, "Commander Skywalker broke ranks to crack a joke on the Ops Channel. What does that tell you?"

Kayla took that as happy news. "Make sure you guys verify that she's going before I get there. I'll see you after work."

"We'll try. See yea— Joanne cut herself off to turn off the comm port.

Shorkey leaned onto the port terminal and lowered his voice, "Don't get too presumptuous about our neighborhood Jedi, Kayla," he warned. "Kess' has been transferred back to Gold Group, effective immediately upon return."

The smile on Kayla's face vanished. "Transferred?" Her tone dropped, "Why?"

Shorkey shrugged as he stepped backwards to the schematic table. "I didn't ask."

Kayla's lips pressed together, and she nodded. _Transferred? Already? They just got home? Or did the transfer come from someone besides Skywalker?_ Kayla blew a sigh out of her mouth, dropped into her chair at her desk and punched in a quick mail message.

 **TO: Lieutenant Yana Dietrich 55147-YANA@CICSYS.MIL**          

 **FR: Lieutenant Junior Grade Kayla Korbosi 98634-KKRB@GLDGRP.MIL**          

 **RE: The other girly**       

 **Kess is home. Arriving now.**   

 **Just got word that she's been transferred back to Gold Group and I'm worried. I know you can't say what you hear in the CC bunker, but if there is something going on behind her back, consider whispering it in her ear. She needs to know what she's up against whether she's got security clearance or not.**     

 **If I don't see you before, see you later.**            

**Kayla**

Blue geometric shapes reflected on Yana's face until she quickly deleted the message and turned away from the monitor. "Captain Solo, do you have a moment?"

Han shot a finger in the air at her to 'wait one' and finished entering coordinates on the holomap before turning to her. "What?"

Yana leaned her elbow on the back of her chair. "Commander Skywalker and Lieutenant Lendra are landing now, sir." She jerked her head in the direction where several Admirals had just disappeared. "Should the Jedi be invited to that meeting?"

Han's mouth twisted in thought and he turned towards the door. "Just Luke," Han stressed. "But get a clearance request started for Lendra so she can go to the next one." He pulled out his commlink and spoke into it as he stepped away. "Hey, Worshipfulness, your evil twin is home..."

Yana grinned a quiet, "Yes, sir," and turned to her terminal. She tapped in Luke's link number and gave him a few good tweets.

 ** _Twee twee tweet... Twee twee tweet... Twee twee tweet..._ **         

Luke's boot paused in the air before hitting the duracrete deck. Kess stepped off the ramp with him and both paused there. " _That_ was fast." He flipped it on, "Skywalker."

Kess swung her bag over one shoulder and grinned sympathetically.

"Commander, this is Lieutenant Dietrich from the Command Center. Welcome home."

Luke exchanged a smile with Kess, "Thank you, Yana. She's here, she's fine, and she's not mad at me anymore. Anything else?"

Yana was still calming her laughter when her voice came through, "Actually, sir, you've been requested to attend a meeting in progress as soon as you're available."

Responsibility colored reluctance across Luke expression and he mumbled back, "I'm on my way." He looked longingly at Kess as he put away the commlink and let out a tested sigh.

Her eyes warmed at him.

They stood there a moment, face to face with a metre of space between them again, both wishing they could just jump right back in the ship and go away again.

Luke absently licked his lower lip and exhaled adulthood. "I'll see you later, Lieutenant."

Kess nodded with complete understanding, "Aye, Commander."

Kess watched him for a long time before turning around and Luke watched her go, nodding back that he understood.

His eyes assured her that this was almost over.

It had to be almost over.

It had to be.


	16. LL3 16 Resignation

** LL3       16        Resignation **

Immediately upon entering the Council Building, Luke was accosted by various officers and politicians welcoming him home amidst invasive questions about where he'd been. He managed to slide away to the privacy of the elevator for a breath of relief only to find the doors open to Yana, Threepio and Artoo diving for him with the same eagerness. They handed him datacards and rattled greetings and gossip as they walked him to the conference room.

The military strategy meeting had been going on for an hour already. Luke blinked rapidly, trying to process all the information passing his eyes and ears. He rattled his head, gathered the datacards in one hand, and opened the conference room door with the other.

The voices inside stumbled to a judgmental silence. Luke stepped in to find twenty officers staring at him from a round table.

As he moved to an empty chair and sat down, Luke returned the looks of many, reading each of their emotions in turn. Chief Commander Mothma waited as he got settled. Leia, Han, and Lando were there; so was Ackbar, Madine, Drayson, Sikey, Rieekan…

"Welcome back, Commander." Mothma greeted in a calm politeness while he found a seat. "How was your trip?"

Luke squinted at them all. "Productive." Had they just been talking about him or were they just overly anxious about his absence? No. They were talking. The Military Council didn't get nervous just because Luke was gone.

"That's good news." Admiral Ackbar leaned his webbed hand on the tabletop and let out the Calamarian equivalent of a smile. "How soon can we expect another Jedi Knight to join our ranks?"

Luke glanced at Leia and found her eyes on him to be just as hard and calculating. He wished he could have talked to her before he walked in here. He calmed his uneasiness and spoke with the perfect political tap dance. "Pretty soon. She accomplished a great deal on this trip." He looked to the Chief Commander to report, "but I haven't yet reviewed my notes to comfortably make an estimate."

Mothma nodded with patience.

Madine asked from the other side. "How is her health?"

Luke narrowed an eye at the other man. "Her health is fine." Luke rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes to sense out at the many eyes looking at him. He was starting to get offended at the unspoken accusations and gestured his fingers on the tabletop. "Is this a strategy meeting or were you guys really this worried about my apprentice?"

"Both," Admiral Ackbar admitted. "I understand you've just landed and haven't read the new data?"

Luke's eyebrows hardened. His fingers slid datapads closer in front of him. "That is correct."

Leia folded her hands and summarized it for him. "The Imperial fleet has made some drastic movements since the Battle of the Y-wing. They've moved several battle groups from inconspicuous locations to stop by Mandalore for a few days, and then take off again, but we've only had sightings for about half their fleet. Also, we've intercepted two more messages to the Imperial spies, one of which mentions Lieutenant Lendra by name."

"And there's a price on her head." Han flung another card to skid across the tabletop at him. "Thirty thousand dead; sixty thousand alive."

" _Sixty_?" Luke raised a brow at Han and caught the datacard in his hand. "Isn't that more than yours?"

Han's mouth cocked to the side. Lando hid a smirk with his fingers.

"We've all analyzed the data. Kadaan is planning another attack." General Rieekan said from the seat next to Luke. "But he's scattered his fleet in such a manner that we've come up with a dozen possible strategies he could be preparing for."

Admiral Sikey added. "But the nearest battle group is still over three days away. We have time to prepare for it."

Lando concluded, "Whatever 'it' is."

"Two and a half," Luke corrected. That got their attention. He lifted his chin to report to the rest of them. "We ran into a battle group on the way home. Two Destroyers and seven support ships about twenty-nine light-years south of Felucia."

Admiral Ackbar turned to a terminal on the wall and crunched in the new data.

Rieekan added thoughtfully. "But the clock doesn't start ticking until they move."

"We've got watches on them," Ackbar assured.

Sikey was thumbing into a datapad. "I'm getting more watches on the Felucia battle group."

"Where is he getting all this firepower?" Luke asked, "Are these reinforcements coming in from the Core Worlds?"

Leia shook her head, "He pulled out of several systems in the outer rim. The treaty proposals are in the works. We've got several of those ambassadors coming to the reception tonight to get things moving."

Admiral Drayson scratched a rubbery ear, "Why don't you and Lendra take a look at it over the weekend so we can get a Jedi point of view at the Council Meeting on Primeday."

General Madine grunted, "If we don't go into battle before then."

Luke nodded, "I'll have to get a clearance for her, but—

Han tossed another datacard across the table at him. It slid into Luke's neatly stacked pile and knocked it over.

Rieekan pulled out the card from the datapad he just happened to have in his hand and slapped it on the tabletop in front of Luke. Luke blinked with a 'you guys are a step ahead of me' expression on his face, and proceeded to pull out his authorization chip to approve Kess' clearance request.

"Commander, while you are looking at it," Mothma said it carefully, "keep in mind the Empire's response to your Jediship. I'd like to hear your views about what kind of reaction we can expect for your subsequent apprentices, specifically your suggestions how to avoid future confrontations over them."

Luke could sense the tone in her voice better than he could hear it, but it was definitely there. Luke nodded obediently, "Yes, Chief Commander." He felt a little in trouble for trying so hard to protect her in the battle and he felt a knot in his stomach about the apparent whispering that had been going on in his absence.

The meeting slowly recovered from Luke's interruption and Luke did more listening than commenting because he was still trying to catch up on what was going on. Admiral Ackbar reported the general state of the fleet, summarizing the timetable of the fleet-wide ground in a few short sentences.

The real question was: how long until the fleet is back in the air?

The real answer was: not soon enough.

Several suggestions came out for the purpose of heading off the impending battle, but no recommendation was completely convincing, and no assumption of the Kadaan's intentions was completely substantial. Mothma made the command decision to let the flagships leave after the reception, as scheduled, only to have them orbit Fiddanl for a few additional days before leaving Yavin System entirely. The council unanimously agreed to keep those battle groups around until they collected more information just in case Yavin Base was really attacked. Each report hinted a new fact to Luke, and he grew more and more anxious to scour the stack of datacards in front of him.

"Might there be a way," pointed out Admiral Sikey, as logical and numeric as her ideas always were, "to use Jedi Lendra's training to our advantage?" She said it like wasn't convinced it was the perfect plan, but was confident that the idea needed to be offered to Skywalker for comment.

Luke's eyes shot to the woman from under his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Admiral Sikey tapped an orange claw on the table and met his eye, "Is it possible that Jedi Lendra herself could open negotiations with Kadaan and try to stop this battle before it starts?"

His face wrinkled and he adjusted in his seat.

Admiral Sikey continued, "If the entire Imperial fleet is going to attack because of her presence, couldn't we head off that battle with her absence?" Admiral Sikey's bold suggestion did not need more of an explanation and she met the eyes of anyone that raised an eyebrow at her when she said it.

Luke felt the mood crystallize in the room.

A vision flashed in his mind: Kess facing off Supreme Prophet Kadaan himself, lightsaber to lightsaber—

Luke caught his breath to swallow the lump in his throat. He wasn't about to turn Kess over just to stop one battle. He would not have considered doing that to anybody, no matter who it was. But with the uniqueness of this situation, his impulsive reaction had to be curbed before he spoke.

It took several heartbeats for him to think of the politically correct words to say, 'Not no, but _hell_ no!'

Han shot out to the Admiral before Luke had the chance. "Are you suggesting we turn Lendra _physically_ over to Kadaan? Trade her like she's some kind of a bargaining chip?"

Sikey leaned back in her chair, not confirming but not denying it either. It was obvious by the look on her face that she wasn't looking at the idea from quite that point of view.

Lando quipped, bright and loud, "Well, hey! Why don't we just _all_ turn ourselves in and then we won't have _any_ more battles!"

Lando's sarcasm made Luke's mouth curl a little.

Sikey threw out objectively. "I'm not suggesting we sacrifice her life, just have her open negotiations. At least we could find out why he's after her." She curled her tone higher. "Sixty thousand credits?"

Han shouted at the Admiral like she was a moron. "He's after her because he thinks she's a Jedi he can turn!"

Luke leaned his elbows on the table, looked Sikey straight in the eye, and worded his answer in the clearest of terms. " _No_."

Mothma broke the stare down between the two of them before it became obvious. "We must adjourn. We have covered all we can for today. We all need to prepare for the reception. The Council Meeting is scheduled for Primeday morning at oh nine hundred. We'll need full attendance and status reports. Commander Skywalker, if you and Lieutenant Lendra find anything new this weekend, please comm us. Admiral Ackbar, do not openly lift the fleet-wide ground, but have all squadrons on alert. General Madine, have the orbital shield checked for readiness and double the ground watches…"

The shuffling of datacards murmured through the room. Leia lowered her mouth to Mothma's shoulder and whispered something. Admiral Ackbar swiveled away in his chair to motion an assistant to come over.

Luke lowered his gaze to the tabletop and reached into his breast pocket. "Chief Commander? There is one more thing."

The movement paused to hear him out, the sudden silence accenting the sound of a small piece of metal skidding across the table toward Leia. She focused on the silver pin and blue dots and wrinkled her forehead at Luke.

Luke said it evenly. "I am officially resigning my commission as Commander of the New Alliance fleet. With your approval, Admiral Drayson, I'd like to start the procedure of turning the command of Rogue Group over to Commander Antilles."

Admiral Drayson had to think to close his mouth before he nodded.

Leia shifted thoughtfully in her chair. Lando did a double take. Han rattled his head.

Luke watched the eyebrows rise with questions and the jaws drop with shock. He explained quietly. "I can't keep running off for treaties and training trips and leave Rogue Group Commander-less like I have been. And it would be ridiculous to think these trips are going to stop. As soon as Lendra graduates, I'm going to start training my _next_ apprentice. And I already know who it is. Juggling all that, the Guild, on top of the treaties and Council Meetings and strategy research, I'm away from the squadron too much. They need a steady Commander they can depend upon."

Mothma's placid expression didn't change when she nodded. "Understood. Thank you for your service."

And that was it.

After a long pause, the bodies slowly collected their notes and move out of the chairs again. Other hush talk filled the room until the Military Council filed out of the door one by one. Luke rubbed his forehead and began collecting his datacards with a sigh.

Lando plopped down in the chair next to him. "You're _resigning_?"

Luke gave the man a weak smile with no intentions of explaining himself further. "Hi, Lando. It's nice to see you too." He stood with his handful.

Han was already on his feet behind him. The smuggler looked concerned and clearly expected more of a personalized status report. Luke impatiently dropped his gaze and shook his head at all this. Then Leia stepped up.

Before she got the chance to demand her own answers, Luke hissed at her. "Why didn't you comm me?"

Most of the meeting attendees were already out the door, others were involved in their own conversations, but Leia kept her voice quiet anyway. "You guys needed a chance to work it out without the Alliance breathing down your necks."

Luke let out a scolding huff through his nose.

Han's voice was quiet, "Did you?"

Luke pushed his shoulder between his sister and her husband with the frost of disappointment in his voice. "You should have commed."


	17. LL3 17 Transferred

** LL3 17 Transferred **

Kess hurried home to drop her stuff off and change into uniform, then strutted back to Rogue Group ready to get back to business. She zipped into the managers' office with a smile and a song, "I'm back!"

Neilson crooned back at her, "You're gone!" He tossed a datacard in her direction as he got up from his desk. "Your transfer came through."

Kess closed her eyes and whispered a curse.

She couldn't be mad; Luke did exactly what she asked him to. (Besides, after Dagobah, it was a bad idea for her to stay in Rogue Group anyway.)

When she pulled her eyes back open, Neilson was standing over the side of her desk with his arms crossed expectantly at his chest. Wedge kicked back in his desk chair and wrapped his hands behind his head.

Teak rushed to finish his comm call quickly and sent the others out of the room before anyone truly had a chance to react to her return. Seidrik was ordered to close the door behind him as he left. As the news spread, the noise on deck swelled like a boiling pot so much that it was still audible when the door shut, now with only the four of the five managers' in the office.

Wedge's eyes narrowed to slits at her. Her shame was so ripe that it made her nauseous.

"Where is he?"

Kess murmured penitently, "He got called into the Council Building before our feet hit duracrete."

"Good." Wedge said sharply, popping out of his chair. "That makes me GC until his feet hit _this_ duracrete." He settled against the front of Teak's desk just so he could stare her down where she sat in her own. "Which means you belong to me until I give you permission to proceed with your transfer."

"You know I can't work here anymore," Kess told him. "He would've transferred me out a long time ago if I hadn't grounded you guys, but he wasn't going to let me out of that project."

"Nah, I get that." Wedge shifted but insisted anyway. "What happened?"

She shrugged pathetically. "I kriffed up." It was as simple as that. "I stuck my nose where it didn't belong, I didn't like what I learned, and then I threw a temper tantrum about it." Kess wasn't sure if Wedge knew enough to understand her fully, but that wasn't the point anymore. "Look, there is nothing you can say that is going to punish me more than knowing what happened to Frond, Wilkerson, and Joust."

Teak's chin shifted when she said that. Wedge's expression acquiesced. Neilson murmured in a deep voice. "It wasn't your fault."

"But I could've prevented it." She never broke the stare with Wedge. "That's what this Jedi thing was all for in the first place. _I could have prevented it._ And I didn't. And I have to live with that." After a harsh pause, she angled her head at the man. "Next question?"

Wedge didn't speak and his expression didn't move, but Wedge somehow knew he didn't need either to get his point across. Kess could sense the question burning from his collarbone, as hopeful as it was a warning. She paused only to try to figure out how to answer him without making the topic obvious to the others.

She broke the stare and looked at her own fidgeting fingers on the desk. "It's fine."

Wedge eyed her, not from a Commander's scolding, or even a GC's reprimand, but with fear from a best friend and wingman.

Kess met his gaze and insisted. "Seriously. Everything is fine."

Wedge arched his eyebrow.

"Not _that_ fine," Kess blurted, eyes wide. Her hands shook 'no' in the air in a panic. "Not that—

Teak and Neilson looked at her quizzically. Wedge flashed with new laughter. Kess closed her eyes and blushed into her fingers.

Wedge just dropped his arms from his chest and pulled from the desk to return to his own. "You may proceed with your transfer, Lieutenant." He said it with such a calm wisdom and friendly shine that Teak and Neilson began moving back to their own pieces of business. Wedge added playfully in the end, "but I'm timing you on the rest."

She and Wedge shared a smiling stare across the office, him with no business asking about it and Kess' face flushing more than it should, but Wedge quickly put the whole thing away before the others figured it out and moved onto other business, entirely satisfied with Kess' answers.

It took less than an hour to shut down her station and transfer her passwords back to Neilson. By the measurement stick of the last ship stat report, Rogue Group was running at 99 percent and would be back in the air for maneuvers by now if it weren't for the fleet-wide ground.

Kess killed as much time on Pad 14 as she could manage without making it obvious that she was waiting for Luke to come back from the Council Building. Eventually, she sensed out to find that he wasn't even close to getting back, so she shuffled her boots through final goodbyes to the gang she had grown to love and left Pad 14 for the last time.

Ten minutes later, she stuffed her hands in the front pockets of her coveralls and dropped a shoulder on the door jam of the Pad 9 managers' office. It was the first time she saw Lieutenant Commander Shorkey in almost a year.

Shorkey's old smile brightened his exhaustion. He folded his arms at his chest and leaned against his desk. "Mushrooms are growing in your locker."

"I didn't have a choice." Kess stepped humbly through the door and sat on the side of his desk like she used to. "I hear the whole fleet's been grounded."

"It's complicated." Shorkey shooed her go away. "Go see Korbosi."

Feeling the weight of her demotion, Kess shuffled to her desk on deck where she ordered Kayla out of her chair.

Kayla smiled wide, got up, dusted the fraying seat cover and swiveled it around to put Kess back in the Deck Supervisor's 'throne'.

Kayla was frazzled about the ground but not frantic. Kess wasn't worried because this was only three ships as opposed to twelve. Kess had another agenda anyway. Instead of sending Kayla back out to tear down a Y-wing, she kept the woman at her side to teach her the new tricks she'd learned about being a Repair Supervisor and fixing X-wings. Kess was thinking about the billet hole she just created in Rogue Group. Ashten was the next logical body to fill Repair Sup. Therefore, they were going to need a new Deck Sup to fill Ashten's billet. When it came to 'Red' Five and Artoo, Kess couldn't think of anybody she trusted more than Kayla.

Kayla laced the next hour of open repair tickets with insinuating jokes and half-finished stories about the continuing romance between her and Rett. Apparently, the man was _very_ good in bed. Kess was glad to hear that, but the stories came with a price. Kayla pressed Kess for matching news.

When the question was finally posed outright, Kess sensed additional ears angling their direction, but Kess no longer cared who overheard her report. "It was not a vacation by any stretch of the word, Kayla. It was _all_ training."

"Where did he take you?"

Kess glared at this dig for details in such an unsecured forum. " _The_ two most _un_ romantic planets in the _entire kriffing galaxy_." Her words ended with clenched teeth. "Trust me, girly girl, this training is so ascetic it would turn _you_ to the dark side."

"Well, that wouldn't take much." Kayla blinked back with wonder. "Are you still mad at him?"

Kess dismissed that with a wave, quick and easy. "Oh, no. He apologized."

Kayla curled a lock of hair behind her ear and lowered to a whisper. "What the hell did he do that made you so mad at him in the first place?"

Kess just laughed at it all as she fought to get back to work. "He was _born_."


	18. LL3 18 The Weirdest Reason We've Ever Gone Into Battle

** LL3       18        The weirdest reason we've ever gone into battle **

Luke paused to find his peace before he opened the door to Leia's office. The assault of personal questions was bound to spark up again as soon as he entered the room. They landed four hours ago and he hadn't even left the Council Building yet. There was so much to catch up on. But now that Kess had a clearance for the Command Center and all the information within it, going through the bits and pieces of data with a fine-tooth comb on a Benduday didn't seem so bad after all. Luke stepped in.

Leia wasn't in there, but Han was, sitting patiently on the couch. "Hey, kid."

"Hi," Luke looked curiously around, "Didn't Leia comm me for a treaty thing?"

Han waved his fingers at the door. "Yeah, they're coming. Chief Commander thinks it should be us to do this to keep Ambassador Shuley on her toes."

"Shuley?" Luke stopped in the middle of the floor. "From the Frakkan System?"

Just then, Leia opened the door. The fake warmth in her tone alerted the men that the politics had already begun. Han stood up beside Luke and both and gave a small bow to Ambassador Shuley when she came through the door.

"You remember my husband, Captain Solo," Leia said, shutting the door behind the woman, "my brother, Jedi Skywalker."

The stiff-faced Ambassador bowed deeper than they did. Humiliation paled her pride. "As a representative of the Frakkan Administration, I give you my deepest apologies. How is the health of your team?"

They took seats in the lounge area of Leia's office. "We have recovered," Leia moved rapidly to business. "You have requested an audience, Ambassador. You have it."

Ambassador Shuley met each of their eyes. "The Empire has pulled out most of their forces from our system to attack you here."

They already knew that.

"There is only one garrison left to be the eyes and ears of the Supreme Prophet, but they can be removed easily. We can sever from the Empire ourselves as long as the greater firepower does not return." She set her chin. "Therefore, we have a deep interest in the outcome of the impending confrontation. The Frakkan Systems offers its services to assist you in defending your base."

Leia kept her eye on Shuley. "What kind of services?"

"We have collected every available ship with a weapon and organized them into a single fleet, commanded by our most decorated pilot. They are organizing nearby and awaiting orders. We can have them in the Yavin System in 35 hours to report to you until dismissed by your government."

"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'." Leia rested her elbow on the arm of the couch, "Forgive my boldness, but that is not a very Frakkan strategy."

"Apologies." Shuley glanced subserviently at her own lap. "Frakkan is," she paused to find the word, " _unaccustomed_ to having, as you say, 'friends'. The outcome of our treaty mission has left us in an unprecedented situation which requires unprecedented strategies." She met Leia's eye. "Governor Levilot's last act was to order your release despite the Imperial backlash _he knew_ it would bring about. Since that time, I have worked very hard to warm my people to the idea that, in order to _have_ friends, one must first _be_ friends."

Her floral wording didn't faze Luke a bit. "Let's start with the beginning instead of the present." He leaned his elbows on his knees and gave her a scolding look. "I'd like to hear the story behind the Usak rights in your original treaty request."

Ambassador Shuley gathered her nerves. "About two years ago, Supreme Prophet Kadaan had a vision that your next Apprentice would kill him at the conclusion of his or her formal training. Once he took power, Kadaan offered freedom to the system who delivered the Apprentice alive. 'Usak' was the code word in his communiqués. Frakkan exercised what means we could to identify the Apprentice and win possession through treaty rather than theft."

"You talk about her like she's an object," Luke sneered.

"Not an object, but a pawn. Until she attains knighthood, she is powerless to make her own decisions, is she not?"

Luke clarified coldly, "She is not powerless. And the right of making her own decisions has never been rescinded."

"But you guide her," Shuley pointed out.

Luke closed one eye in thought and leaned back on the couch. "What was the description you were given?"

"The Jedi Apprentice was an adult human female who was already trained with a lightsaber, and that she would emerge 'from the background of the foreground'. We translated the phrase to mean, 'from the lower ranks of the front line.' We also widened our search to include _any_ woman practiced with any type of sword. I believe that is how Mugwot Pon identified her."

"Lokey and his fencing class," Luke murmured. He flicked his eyes to Leia and back to Shuley. "It actually specified an adult human female?"

"Only juxtaposed in that you are, sir, an adult human male." Shuley pointed out as if this should have been obvious. "The Supreme Prophet's use of a term from _our_ scripture gave the Frakkan System the advantage. Verse Girvan 21:23 'Once the Usak is shared, strength multiplies in the home dimension.' Kadaan's vision indicated his own death at the time the Usak is shared." She shrugged her hands from her knees at the man. "You can't very well breed children with anything _but_ an adult human female."

Luke gurgled, "Excuse me?"

"Kadaan's entire goal here is to prevent the pair of you from breeding."

Leia blinked over bulging eyes.

Shuley ignored their shock and continued. "You have made quite clear to the media that you don't intend to pursue a personal relationship until her training is complete, which is laudable, but that only bolsters Kadaan's vision that her Knighthood, your sharing, and his death will all happen in concurrence."

Han tossed his head back on the couch and tried to keep his laugh quiet.

"Since many of us have little basis to determine the progression of a Jedi's Apprenticeship; his spies, (and ours) have been watching the events of your private life in order to judge that time scale."

Luke's elbow was propped on the armrest and his fingers covered his eyes. After a moment of finding his peace, _again_ , he dropped his hand and leaned onto his knees with a deep sigh and little patience left. " _How_ have you been watching my private life?"

Shuley cleared her throat. "I don't know."

Luke's mouth tightened. His eyes flared at her.

She expounded quickly. "After your party left our system, the entire city of Sultani was destroyed by Admiral Cheenan, but his anger was not quenched there. In an effort to prevent more cities from annihilation, the late Governor Levilot turned over the codes of all our spies to the Admiral. They identified Lendra as the Usak somehow, had her planted on your ship for the treaty mission, and were awaiting orders when we turned them over. We have had no communication with them since."

Leia tone lowered, "Any information you have on these spies would be helpful."

The Ambassador straightened her posture. "I will have the details delivered to you within the hour. Perhaps you could consider it an additional flagstone to pave the way to a treaty between our governments?"

Leia stood and spoke rigidly, "We will give it some thought."

Ambassador Shuley took the cue and stood. She bowed again to Leia and left.

Leia quietly closed the door then turned back to the sitting area, but she didn't sit down. Instead, she announced with a smile, "This is, I think, the weirdest reason we have ever gone into battle."

Luke tightened his teeth and stared at nothing on the far wall. Han shoved a tongue into his molar and kept his smile silent. Leia rubbed her lips to keep them zipped shut.

Finally, Luke grinned caustically at the air. "The curiosity I'm feeling on the Force is almost blinding."

Han tugged an earlobe, draped his arm across the back of the couch, and blurted bright and loud. "So how was your trip?"

"Not as good as everyone seems to think." He shot to his feet and whined as he paced. "This is ridiculous! We're about to be attacked because the Empire thinks I've found myself a girlfriend?"

Han debated easily back, "You _have_ found yourself a girlfriend, kid. It's just that you won't admit it and Kadaan's people can't verify it." Han just shrugged. "Shouldn't her training be almost over by now? Then it won't matter, right?"

Leia put in thoughtfully, "I doubt Kadaan is going to call off the attack if he hears that she's graduated."

Luke agreed. "Dark visions have a tendency to be more detailed than they are accurate. I'll bet he knows that." Luke rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "It's just seems a little strange that he would prophesize his death and my sex life in the same vision." He groaned a grin into his hand. "Especially since I have problems just _imagining_ either one."

Han smirked at that.

"Why now?" Leia asked, her eyes narrowed at the air. "Mugwot Pon, or 'Lokey', he panicked. That kidnapping attempt was _not_ planned well. And immediately upon its failure, Kadaan is moving big battle groups around to come after us again? We're missing something."

Luke stuffed his hands into his front pockets, humbled, and stared at the floor. He wondered if they were spotted on Tatooine, but that would not have mattered unless there was a spy-cam in the hotel room. Unlikely. What about Dagobah? He thought back to remember if that pea shooter transport was scanned for devices before they left. If the ship's ramp camera was rigged to record that night…

Luke's face paled.

"The key is Lokey panicking," Han said. "Something happened that that made the spies think that you two were (ahem) 'getting warmer'."

Luke shook his head at them. "She quit, Han." He widened his eyes and spread a palm. "You were there! You _helped_! Did it _look_ like were about to do anything promiscuous?"

"They panicked _because_ she quit," Leia inserted. Her eyes slid over.

Luke's eyes slid back. Reluctantly, he nodded and shrugged his palms against his sides. "They panicked because she quit."

"What happened on the trip?" Leia ordered gently.

"She faced what she needed to," Luke told them, and he didn't feel the need to explain further. "Honestly, I'm not sure what she has left to do."

Leia asked with respect. "Is she ready to graduate?"

"No. Not yet. Maybe. I don't know." Luke paced the floor. "We just landed a few hours ago. I haven't even been back to my barracks yet. Let me," he visibly struggled with that idea and unapologetically threw a party line at her, "I'll get back to you on that."

Han stressed the absurdity of this. "You can't put it off forever just to keep them from attacking."

Luke considered this sadly. "But we can use the media to our advantage and make the Empire think she's not even close."

"What do you have in mind?" Leia's voice was quiet and warm, almost sneaky.

Luke crooned back in similar tone, " _Not_ taking her to your reception tonight."

"Did you ask her?"

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

"Exactly what you thought she would say."

Leia smiled poisonously, "You're not getting out of it."

"Wait," Han urged. "He's got a point—

Lethal brown eyes shifted to stab at her husband as well. "You're not getting out of it either."

Han's mouth wrinkled. He pouted.

"It will look worse if you two _aren't_ there," Leia told Luke. "You're my brother. She is a friend of the family."

Luke's shoulders slumped with defeat.

She raised an index finger. "But no uniforms this time."

Luke shared a moment of helplessness with Han. Han lifted his chin to hint at Luke with a whisper. "There will be alcohol."

Luke snorted a quick snigger.

Leia stood and stressed. "Luke, the more you go out of your way to make it look like there is nothing between you, the more the public is going to believe otherwise." She rested her hand on his forearm and pleaded with him to understand. "The best thing you can do right now is to give them something boring to report."

"I'm not talking about the public. I'm talking about the Empire," Luke corrected. "Even still, how do I make taking my apprentice out on a date in civilian clothes look like something boring for Wubak and platonic for Kadaan?"

Leia shrugged playfully. "Simple. Keep the date boring and platonic."

Luke huffed at the ceiling.

"Did you have other intentions?"

"Of course not!" Luke barked.

Han hid a grin. "Maybe that's your problem."

Luke rolled his head on his neck.

Leia chuckled, "He's right, you know." She gestured as she explained. "The only reason the media is so hungry for news is because you _haven't given them_ _any_. The tension between you two has grown so palpable that their suspicions have become warranted." She laughed and stepped away, waving both hands in the air with a ludicrous croon. "The irony of it all is that neither the Empire nor the NewsNets would give a damn about it right now if you two had just gotten it out of your system months ago!"

"We have got to be able to head this thing off somehow." Luke slumped to sit on the armrest of a couch, hanging his hands between his knees. He shrugged pitifully. "Even if it was true, there is no way to show the media that she _isn't_ close to graduating or that we _aren't_ breaking ranks behind closed doors. Nobody would believe it anyway. Rumors have been raging about us for months." He searched the air for a political move and couldn't find one. "Leia, I love you and I'm proud of you, but Kess and I _really_ shouldn't go to this thing!"

Han's gentle suggestion stressed how stupid all this was. "Luke, maybe you should just feed the media with something to report."

"Well, what would you suggest?" Luke spread his hands and whined. "We've only got three hours before the dog and pony show!"

Han's face twisted madly, _"How much time do you kriffing need?!"_

A voiceless laughter shattered out of all three of them. Faces turned pink, but some more than others.

As the merriment calmed, Leia motioned both Han and Luke and meet her in the middle of the floor. With one hand, she held Han's and weaved their fingers together. With the other, she rested it on Luke shoulder and smiled up.

Luke blushed at the floor.

Her voice was smooth and confident. "We've got monitors on the battle groups and they'll let us know the moment the Empire starts moving. The NewsNets will be delighted to see that both Jedi are back and everything is normal. You two are friends, so just be friends tonight _._ The media will be happy enough with that."

Luke nodded pathetically.

Han cupped his hand around Luke's neck with a secret whisper into his chin, "Alcohol."

Luke grinned with humor.

Leia shoved them both by the shoulders to kick them out so she could get back to work, shouting at their backs. "No drunkenness at my dog and pony show!"

Han turned on his heels, putting his palms on his own chest as he retreated through the door, appalled at such a suggestion. "I would _never_ —

The door slid shut.


	19. LL3 19 Preparations

** LL3       19        Preparations **

It was nearly knock-off by the time Luke escaped the Council Building, still in his civilian clothes. Since he hadn't been back to his speeder yet either, he just walked it down the length of the quad between Pad Complexes. The warmth of spring brightened the green jungle and red planet like a carnival, but the smell of fear wafted through the Force like a pale scent. All battle groups hustled to prepare for an attack no one was certain was coming.

But they all secretly knew it was coming. And they all openly knew why.

Luke fretted that a topic so terrifically personal had become the crucial lynchpin of this entire chess game. He wasn't ready to talk about sex with _her_ yet, much less two bickering governments, two pugnacious militaries, and one juice-thirsty media.

He opted not to return to Rogue Group else he would never make it home in time to get ready for the Reception. He would tell Wedge and the crew about his resignation during pass down on Primeday. First, he had to deal with Leia's political pony show. (He wondered what Kess looked like in a dress). Second, he had to study these battle movements with Kess in the Commander Center, (perhaps immediately after the Reception while she was still in the dress?) And third, he had to review all his Jedi references and meditate alone so he could decide what remained of Kess' training. (Why _couldn't_ she be done now?) (Why not tonight?) (Why not just graduate her during the fanfare of the Reception? And then…?)

Luke stopped his feet on the sidewalk and slammed his eyes shut with self-scolding.

_Patience, Luke._

He couldn't be sure if it was his own voice, or Yoda's, or Obi-Wan's, but it didn't matter.

As he meditated briefly, the announcement of knock off became audible through the open entranceway of the Complex beside him. Soon, floods of military uniforms poured out of the doors and drowned him in a crowd. Speeders hit the streets. Luke popped his eyes open and resumed his march home so he could jump in the shower and get ready for tonight.

* * *

Kess didn't own a dress, and she didn't think about that until she was strolling back to barracks amongst dozens of others when Kayla piped an impatient question. "So, did the man ask you to the Minister of State Reception tonight or not?"

Kess stopped her combat boots midstream and yelped. "Crap!"

With a motherly huff, Kayla grabbed her commlink with one hand and Kess' elbow with the other, dragging the woman faster along the sidewalk as she dialed.

"General Quarters," Kayla grunted into the commlink.

"Copy that," Yana's voice grinned back.

Joanne, Yana, and Kayla spent the next hour and a half fawning over her like bridesmaids at a wedding until she was fully dressed and painted up like a porcelain doll. Eventually, Rett strolled in and waited for Kayla for their own date but was glad to lounge about the barracks apartment and laugh at Kess' torture. Hagat showed up a little while later to pick up Joanne and ended up joining Rett's 'peanut gallery' of inappropriate comments.

"Yo, Lendra! You know what they say about prom night, right?" Hagat crooned.

Kess grumbled at Yana with the nail polish. "Let go of my hand so I can flip him off."

She argued with them that this was too much, that she should go in uniform or at least _different_ dress. Trapped by the curling iron in Joanne's fist and tweezers in Yana's fingers, Kess was helpless when she demanded Kayla hand her the commlink.

Kayla kicked back on Kess' bed with Kess' commlink, but prepared to dial it herself. "Who do you want to comm?"

"Comm Luke," Kess insisted. "Remind him that I have a Jedi uniform now and I should be going to the Reception in _that_." After a thought, Kess added, " _Especially_ if he's going in his uniform!"

"Oh, I want to hear this." Rett strolled to the bedroom door and dropped his shoulder on the jam. Hagat chuckled to join them, politely handing Kess a beer as a soothing offer for her entrapment.

Smugly, Kayla dialed.

**_Twee twee tweet._ **

"Skywalker."

"What are you wearing?" Kayla asked in a suddenly sultry voice.

Joanne exploded with laughter. Yana giggled into Kess' shoulder. Hagat snorted beer through his nose. Rett just shook his head with mature laughter. Kess hid her eyes with her fingers and cussed under her breath.

Kayla sat with perfect patience so the man on the line could recover too.

"Excuse me?"

Kayla tried to not laugh and speak in a sexy voice at the same time. "Your apprentice seems to think she should go in her Jedi Uniform."

Although a hint of humor was detectable in his tone, Luke's patience was tested. "My sister sent over a dress for her to wear instead. Did she not?"

"That's affirm'," Kayla sang.

Kess sighed with sudden understanding.

The crowd in the room went quiet enough to hear the cool scolding in Luke's voice. "Funny how the Minister-Elect outranks me at her own Inauguration, isn't it?"

Kayla replied. "Do you have any Jedi instruction for me to relay to the woman ready to brandish a lightsaber against Joanne's curling iron?"

"Yes. Quit playing around and hurry up," was his quick and apathetic answer. "I'm going to be there in ten minutes." Click.

Kayla smirked as she set the commlink aside. "Well, that clears _that_ up."

Ten minutes later, the doorbell buzzed and Kayla jumped out of Kess' bedroom to answer it. When the door slid aside, Luke strolled only two steps in and gave the group a subdued hello. His voice was more than quiet for the following small talk.

Kayla looked him up and down and complimented his fine suit, pressed to perfection. The charcoal-gray slacks and waist-cut jacket had maroon stripes down the sides, making it look almost like an Imperial Admiral's uniform, but the only signs of rank were his silver Jedi pin on his collar and the lightsaber, as always, at his hip. His shoes were shined, his shoulders were straight, and his hair was cut.

Joanne and Yana hopped out before their work of art did, greeting him giddily and laughing that Kess might need the Force to keep from tripping on herself tonight. Five centimetres taller than usual, Kess stepped out like she was trying to balance on a thin wire.

Luke's knees went weak.

"If you make fun of me one time," she warned him, "you and I are trading shoes."

The deep green bodice clung to her curvy torso from a wide V-neck to a trim cut of the skirt. The low waistline curved around her in such a way that the single belt strap and lightsaber hilt behind her hip did not look entirely out of place. Satin hair bounced with enforced curls down her back, pinned behind her neck with a big, crumpled ribbon. Her usual sun-gold complexion now glowed with sunset rouge and smoldering eye makeup.

Luke shoved fists into front pockets and tried not to look at her at all. Kess stepped carefully to him until she was close enough and grabbed his elbow. Luke stiffly lifted his elbow from his side as if being a gentleman was too much to ask.

Kayla laughed at their comic display. "You guys look like brother and sister forced to play nice."

Luke leered at the other woman. "That's not as funny as you think it is."

Yana snapped a photocap of them but only caught them looking at each other like strange life forms. Rett and Hagat heckled from the sitting area, toasting the couple with beer bottles. Joanne sang suggestively as the pair moved for the door. "We won't wait up."

"Don't bother," Luke grunted and led Kess to the hall.

They headed for the elevator and Luke held his arm too far away in an attempt to keep her body from bumping into his. As soon as the elevator doors closed, he dropped her entirely and punched the button. He stuffed his fists back into his own pockets and fell back against the wall with a struggle of patience.

Kess snipped, "Are you going to be this pleasant all evening?"

"I got a lot of news today." He scratched his eyebrow and shrugged his fingers as he dropped his hand again. He worked not to look at her. "We'll go over it all in the morning."

Kess hissed a snide, "Yes, Master."

Luke closed his eyes. "Okay. You really have to stop calling me that."

Kess watched him as the elevator doors opened, how he let her begrudgingly have his elbow to head out of the building. Insulted, she grumbled, "I was teasing you."

"Well, _stop_ ," he whined softly as he led her into the warm night air. He whispered harshly toward her ear, eyes shifting to see if anyone was around to listen in, and only now detecting that dreamy perfume on her skin for the first time in ages. "You remember that 'gang' we found coming back? Apparently, they're not alone."

Kess looked over, understanding him immediately.

Luke gritted his teeth to concentrate. "And there's a death mark on your head."

Curious and attentive now, Kess whispered, "A death mark? How much?"

"Sixty alive and thirty dead."

Her eyebrow stretched strangely. "Sixty credits? Does that even count as –?"

Luke slammed his eyes shut. "Sixty _thousand_ credits."

"Oh."

Luke led her to the speeder, now wondering if she was _ever_ going to be trained enough to graduate. He wanted to tell her about this new understanding of Kadaan's vision, but they didn't have time to debate about what it meant. He wanted to tell her about his resignation, but they didn't have time for an argument. He wanted to—

Her tiny voice cut through the air. "If I turn myself in, do I get to keep the money?"

Luke turned to her like she'd lost her marbles.

Kess tittered at his reaction.

Realizing now that she was just teasing him again, Luke fought the urge to stuff her into the speeder like wadded clothes in a duffel bag.

Kess climbed in and he stepped around to get in too. With gritting teeth and huffing nose, Luke pulled over the straps and started power up but, as soon as the doors enclosed them away from the night, Kess reached over and stopped his fingers on the console.

Luke's movement skidded to a halt the moment she touched him. Even if it was just fingers on fingers, the softness of her touch made him stop, not think.

"Relax, Luke," she assured gently. "I'm on your side."

"My 'side'?" He queried, trying to keep his wits as he looked over to her. "Of what?"

"Of all of it." Kess dropped her hand from his and shrugged her nearly naked shoulders in that wide V-neck. "You don't need to prove it to _me_ that you and I are safe when we're alone together."

Luke smiled at his lap when she said that. _But I still need to prove it to me,_ he thought. He powered up the speeder, shifted into gear, and murmured. "You're the _only_ one I don't need to prove it to."

 


	20. LL3 20 Minister of State Reception

** LL3       20        Minister of State Reception **

The press was out in full array and the guards in combat armor. The NewsNets hung back from the mess, content to get pictures but not comments from the guests as they embarked up the wide stairway. (The true politicians hunted the press down instead.) Lights glowed up the facade of the Grand Cathedral, showing off the intricate detail of the stonework and the giant red and white Alliance flag hanging above the tall doors. Kess would have thought it was Victory Day if she didn't know any better.

Luke took care of the valet as another protocol droid graciously helped Kess out of the speeder. Luke offered his elbow to her again but held it out to the side far enough so the press could the air between them from every direction. He led the way up the steps until he figured it out that she could walk in the shoes without help. He soon dropped her arm entirely and let her ascend to the doors ahead of him.

Kess was too soon in a giant room with a gathering of the multi-cultural wealthy. Another flag hung in the center of the far wall inside, halfway up the vaulted ceiling above the stage. Long tables, filled with mounds of fancy nibbles, followed the left wall. Giant round dining tables of littered the room like polka dots. Officeholders of all flavors gathered in stuffy discourse. Each stiffened uniform carried enough brass with which to build an X-wing. Governors, Generals, Councilors, Admirals, and their spouses, and their assistants, and their escorts milled about the giant floor like sludge.

Kess gulped.

Luke appeared beside her and, grinning this time, offered his elbow again.

She took it thankfully for there were more steps here. Besides, her eyes were too busy gathering data on the crowd. Her eyes shifted around the room, recognizing many from the NewsNets and avoiding eye contact with everybody. She teased him as quietly as she could, "What? No lectures about being on my best behavior? You're falling down on the job."

"Didn't need to say it, did I?" Luke kept his voice low too. He nodded at others as they moved through the crowd.

They stopped and made space between them at the first drink droid they ran across. Both plucked out glasses without caring what was in them.

"I appreciate the elbow thing," she muttered to him. "These shoes really are quite tricky."

"Well, you are my _date_ , after all." His eyes looked around for Han and Chewie as he sipped his glass.

" _Escort_ ," she corrected and then leaned deeper into his shoulder to lower her voice too. "I have no intentions of behaving myself on the date."

Luke froze to listen, then, comically, shot the rest of the drink down his gullet. He sucked a smiling breath through his teeth, avoided her eyes and her laughter, and traded the server droid a full glass for his empty one.

"Lando!" Kess squeaked and suddenly she knew how to walk in the shoes again. She wrapped her arms around Lando's neck and hung on _his_ arm without reservation.

"Look at you!" Lando's charm oozed at Kess while he looked her up and down. "What Jedi trick did it take to get you to dress up like this?" He grinned wickedly at Luke. "I want to learn it."

Luke's eyes stabbed at Lando over the rim of his glass, but Lando easily turned his shoulder away from Luke and put his full, smiling attention on the woman. Kess shined up at the sharply-dressed pirate like she had a childhood crush on the man.

"He has a devious sister, actually," she explained. "She coaxed my roommates into action to get the dress for me while we were gone and apparently made Luke get a haircut. I guess the Jedi aren't allowed to look shabby on occasions like this. I hope I won you a bet this time…"

Luke stood dumb behind Lando for an awkward minute while the other pair talked like old war buddies. He snuck a peek around to see where Han and Chewie were. Leia wouldn't come out until after the ceremony. He wished Wedge were here. He wished Lando would back off of her a little. He wished—

_The hell with it._

With a huff, Luke slapped down his drink and took one smooth stomp forward. He squared his shoulders to shove his body 'politely' between the Lando and Kess, looking unusually taller than Lando for the one moment he smiled menacingly into the other man's face.

As Lando blinked back with surprise, Luke slyly curled his forearm back into hers until she was holding his elbow again. "So, Lando, did you come alone?"

Lando heckled with instant understanding and took a decent step backwards. "No," he started to look around to realize how long his own date had been gone. "As a matter of fact..."

The moment Lando's attention was turned, Luke pinned Kess' hand under his arm and yanked her away. "We're going to find our table," he called out as he left.

They sat at an empty table near the stage and muttered about nothing for a while. Han showed up in short order, grumbling as usual, and Chewie's fur was brushed. Threepio was running back and forth to relay messages and tend to hosting problems. Artoo stopped by to whistle hello to the gang but was off again on other orders. The room gradually filled and the food was quickly picked away. Stale conversation drifted from ships to politics and, somewhere along the line, Leia appeared with a flustered sigh.

The expression only lasted as long as her back was turned to the crowded room and she smiled lovingly at Han's sarcastic comments of affection when she turned back around again. Lando returned with a date on his arm that turned out to be a sexy young pilot from Purple Group.

Kess sat in the chair, sipping pure water and nibbling appetizers while she waited for something interesting to happen. Luke chatted with her from time to time, but none of the topics were profound, and they all were interrupted every time some brass-covered uniform stopped by to greet, congratulate, or comment to someone at the table.

The presentation was long, dry and a politically correct welcome of Leia Organa Solo to the position of Minister of State of the New Alliance. The speeches concluded with applause and then the real hobnobbing began. Luke ushered her around to introduce her to Ambassador This and Governor That, often leaving her alone for several minutes of Jedi-related questions and dusty old jokes.

After two hours of politely steering away queries about her training and her future plans in Luke's Guild, Kess finally gave up the façade when a bigot asked her how 'the little Jedi girl's' trip went. "I hope that boy took good care of you?"

Kess gave the man a tight smile and bit back a cutting response. Instead, she managed to take her leave and proceeded to look for Luke, ready to bite his head off for leaving her alone again in this social obligatory jungle.

He saw her coming and finished up his chit chat with some Admiral so he could turn away and meet her in no man's land. "Everything okay?"

"I'm just," she hissed through her teeth and looked around, controlling her honesty. "These questions about us are getting—

Luke nodded slow and deep, diverting his eyes but with sarcasm in his chuckle. "Welcome aboard, Jedi Lendra. Shall I show you to your cabin?"

"Really?" She hooked his elbow again when he turned, and he let her take it. "It's been _this_ bad?"

"Not until we left." He looked around as he led her away. "We can't talk about it now, but we've got _lots_ to catch up on tomorrow."

Kess wasn't paying attention to where they were going. "We should have come in uniform."

"Yes, we should've," he agreed. "But it wasn't my call."

She started to pull her hand from his elbow. "Maybe we should—

"Nope." He said and took her hand before it got away. He murmured like it was an order for ugly exercise. "We're going to give them something to talk about."

Uncertain, especially the way he was facing her _now_ ; she eyed him sideways. "Like what?"

Luke had to quell a wicked twinkle into a placid smirk by the time he faced her. "Absolutely nothing." He took her hand, took her waist, and stared into eyes as they began to move to the wishy-washy music.

Kess' eyes widened to saucers to realize what was happening.

Luke teased her with a mutter, "Just don’t step on me in those things."

She had to watch her own feet for a bit, but they were laughing at each other about their mutual clumsiness within a few minutes.

Han watched the dance floor from where he sat abandoned at the table. He had one boot kicked up on Leia's empty chair and ran a single finger around the rim of his crystal goblet to make it peep with song from time to time. Chewie wandered up behind him with a mug in his mitt and yawned. Lando soon came over without his date, took off his cape to drape it over a chair, and looked over his shoulder to the rest of the thinning room, "Hey, where did – oh, there they are."

Han glanced up and found 'them' laughing at each other again. Luke was handling his Apprentice as though she was somebody _else's_ wife, but it was clear in the man's smile that he was in love with her. The kid probably didn't realize how obvious he was being. Han wondered if he should go over there and break it up before someone important noticed.

"They seem to have recovered from their disagreement."

Surprised at the voice, Han glanced up over his shoulder to find the Chief Commander's straightened back and level chin standing behind him. Mon Mothma gazed evenly out to the Jedi pair on the dance floor as well.

Leia sat down in the chair next to her husband. She too looked out at the Jedi pair and agreed cautiously, "seems that way."

The group watched in silence until the dance ended a few seconds later. Luke's eyes sparkled when they strolled off the stage, still keeping his elbow a full klick away from his body so she could keep her balance in the heels. The two muttered jokes to each other as they made their way to the food table. Kess picked up an hors d'oeuvre and said something just before she popped it in her mouth. Luke scrunched his face and sniggered madly.

Despite their visible efforts, the couple was having _way_ too much fun to pass as 'boring and platonic'.

Leia turned her chin but not her eyes toward her husband with a whisper. "I thought I told you not to get him drunk."

"No, Minister-ness." Han pointed at himself, his voice _almost_ as quiet as hers. "You told me not to get _me_ drunk."

Mothma smirked secretly at them all and turned away to other matters.

* * *

Midnight hushed the dark barracks hallway until the elevator doors opened and laughter poured out into the silence. Kess hung on his arm and giggled at him. Luke squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep the volume of his laughter down to not wake anybody up.

His laughter sobered when they reached Kess' apartment and butterflies swarmed through his stomach when she opened the door.

She let go of his arm to step alone in the darkened apartment for two curious steps. "I guess they really didn't wait up," she said. She about-faced on those heels and faced him down a shrug. "They're probably all passed out on a street corner somewhere."

Luke stopped at her doorway and clasped his hands behind his back.

She weaved her fingers together in front of her skirt and shrugged timidly. "Thank you for taking me."

He dropped the front of his shoulder against the door jam and whispered. "Thank you for coming."

Kess' voice raised a little, trying to keep the discomfort at bay. "It's going to be interesting to see how you plan to top that for our real date."

Luke's rubbed grinning lips together. "Any special requests?"

"Alone," she said, humbly, "would be nice."

Blue eyes glowed at her and his temple fell helplessly against the door jam. He wrung his hands behind his back. The light of his Force was blushing into the room that his feet wouldn't dare to tread. The door became the wall that kept his shoulder from drifting into the sanctity of her apartment. The air grew loud and the light glowing from the kitchenette seemed to dim.

"I wish you could stay, too," she whispered.

Luke faintly nodded agreement to that. He looked longingly at her for a full minute without moving a muscle. He remembered every detail about her face, the curves of her dress. He recorded the way brown eyes sparkled and the way her Force was blushing an amorous pink right back at him.

Luke stood up straight and took a big step backwards into the hall. "Good night."

Kess' eyebrows slanted with difficult reality. "Good night."

She watched him take one last look at her and turn away. He pressed his lips together and disappeared down the hall.

 


	21. LL3 21 Command Center Study

** LL3       21        Command Center Study **

**BENDUDAY**

The Command Center bunker was disturbingly dark and quiet on a Benduday morning. A data droid sat at a terminal in the corner of the room, its lighted eyes affixed to the screen of ones and zeros in front of him. The rest of the bunker was empty, most of the monitors turned off, the desk lamps turned down. The mainframes shined pinpoints of light on standby until Luke started switching all the equipment back on.

Kess watched the glass stat boards glow, the holomap blink on, and listened to the hard drives wind up, but several levels under the ground floor of the Council Building, the room still felt seemed too small and short to be comfortable.

Luke stepped to her and folded his arms, leaning his hip against the base of the humming holomap. "Where would you like to start?"

Kess looked at the dozen datacards in her hand and chewed on her lower lip. "Where would _you_ like to start?"

"No." Luke stretched a grin. " _You_ are flying this ship. Prove to me you can make sense of it all."

Kess swallowed hard and sifted through the cards, checking their labels. "All right." She found three and offered them to him. "Let's look at the maps first."

Luke reached to take them but—

"No, wait." She pulled them back to herself. He could see calculations in her eyes. She stared in the air a moment and went to a chair, setting the pile down in front of her. Luke curiously watched over her shoulder as she filed through the stack one by one and she separated the information into categories. Satisfied with her organization, she picked out the same three datacards and shot out of the chair. "The maps," she said.

Luke waited, humored, to see if she'd change her mind again before turning to the holomap to plug in the first card. Primary colors of light flicked on until the entire Gordian Reach hovered in the air as tiny geometric figures.

She took control of the study right away, barely noticing when Luke wasn't pointing out the details, and she didn't notice his swell of pride towards her when she put together details on her own. She studied the maps only to get a general idea of where the Empire had moved their pieces and, without trying to guess Kadaan's plan before she saw all the information, she turned to the intercepted messages and readings from the satellites.

Luke silently watched as she went through each communiqué and transcribed any written clues onto the map. When she spoke, it was usually just her thinking out loud, only meeting his eyes for a quick question about his deeper knowledge about things. When she read the mail messages to the Yavin-based spy, she didn't stop short and she didn't get scared. She just logically took the information in and tried to fit it with the rest of the data she had already sorted out.

**TO: Father 00254-QWRT@LOCKET.NET**

**FR: Shori Ka 56489-TERM@PUBLIC.NET**

**RE: (no data)**

**Crash caused by lack of planning. I will not make the same mistake. I have ample opportunity to colour the sky blue. Humbly awaiting your pardon.**

Then:

**TO: Son 56492-TERM@PUBLIC.NET**

**FR: Father 00266-QWRT@LOCKET.NET**

**RE: (no data)**

**Bring me Kess Lendra alive and we can discuss your pardon.**

"At least they want me alive." She tried to sound bright, but then her mouth twisted to the side. "I don't understand this other message, though. It certainly sounds peculiar, but why was it picked out of a million other mail messages as a clue?"

Luke remembered he hadn't told her about the first intercepted message. He straddled the seat next to her and began to pull it from the archives. "There was a message intercepted about two months ago to Mugwot Pon, but we didn't know who it was or what they were after."

Kess peered at the screen when the message flipped up and read it. "Activate mynock only. Keep blue secured. Awaiting signal." She thought for a second. "'Mynock' was the name of the plan for Lokey to get me out by air. 'Blue' is the code name for another plan. 'Shori Ka' is the code name for another spy."

Luke nodded with agreement.

She looked back at the first message and glanced over it. "Now that Lokey's dead, this Shori Ka is begging Kadaan to let him give it another shot so Kadaan will forgive him instead of kill him. And Kadaan agrees as long as he gets me out alive."

Luke focused on her in the dim lighting. "So who is Shori Ka?"

Kess blinked at the terminal screen and draped her elbows on the armrest. "Well, they're a native Frakkan."

He squinted curiously, "How can you tell?"

She pointed at the screen, "Look at how it's worded. You can almost hear the accent. And here, typical inner rim spelling, c-o-l-o- _u_ -r."

Luke shrugged a frown of approval. "You know anybody from Frakkan?"

"No." Kess shook her head. "But Frakkans are just as human as we are." She shrugged, flipping through the faces of friends and acquaintances in her mind, thinking about fellow grease monkeys, the guys in supply, the civilians at the Mash Pit. She knew so many people. She didn't know who she couldn't trust. "I don't know." She looked at him. "Would it be the same spy who's been watching your private life?"

He rested his chin in his fist. "It seems so, but not necessarily."

She lowered her voice to a whisper even though they were alone in the most secure room in all of Gordian Reach. "Who are the common denominators between my training and your private life?"

A blue eye peeked over to twinkle. " _You_." Luke was humored to admit this. "With _this_ training schedule? You _are_ the sum total of my private life. Any connection you find would be superficial."

"What kind of contact did Shuley give us?"

"A general mail address," he said, "but we're not going to touch that until we have some way of catching them."

Kess bit her lower lip in thought. An idea began to brew and she continued her studies with a new fire until she scoured data on every card several times. Luke made his own observations but kept his opinions to himself. He watched her rearrange the symbols on the holomap for different vectors and remove general sets of data that seemed irrelevant to the situation.

It was early afternoon before she narrowed in on a theory. As if she had just finished studying the textbook and was ready for the test, she turned to him with folded arms and announced, "They're going to attack."

Luke leaned his back against the opposite mainframe and folded his arms as well. "When?"

"Two days," she said. "The last satellite report is four hours old and the nearest battle group is two and a half days away." She thought for a second and continued. "The _farthest_ battle group (that has moved out of routine) is _three_ days away. That means they'll attack on Taungsday."

"Okay." Luke nodded, coaxing her to continue.

"But only if they all left _right now_. They're waiting for all our flagships to go home now that the reception is over. They want us to be as naked as possible when they attack. It's no secret our Yavin based fleet has been grounded and I'm not sure other Repair Supervisors are making the same precautions I did when I only disabled three at a time."

Luke slowly inhaled, and quickly raised an eyebrow, "So…"

Kess shrugged madly, "So we _are_ naked. Most of the flagships are heading out this weekend so everyone can make it home by Victory Day. And nobody is out there on the Pads getting the squadrons ready for a firefight."

Luke patted her shoulder. "We're not naked," he assured. "The flight groups are grounded, but no one is getting an overhaul. They're ready. And the flagships _are_ leaving on schedule today to make it look like we don't know anything, but they're not going home. They're all going to orbit around Fiddanl until we have a plan."

Kess blew out a breath, "Okay. So we can put up a fight when they attack, but why don't we just head them off?"

Luke wrinkled his forehead. "Because they're coming from three different directions. We can't afford to split up our fleet like that."

She shook her head. "I don't buy that. They can't risk not coming out of hyperspace at precisely the same time. From that distance, they couldn't coordinate a hyperspace jump closer than ten minutes. That could be fatal in a battle like this. They may come from three different directions, but they'll rendezvous outside the system before they come straight for the base."

"Agreed," Luke nodded, " _But from which direction?_ By the time they come out of hyperspace to rendezvous outside the system, they already have a step ahead of us. They'll take off again and be in our atmosphere before we can call General Quarters."

Kess winced hard and dug both sets of fingers into her bangs.

Luke continued, "Most of the suggestions from the Military Council are based on fortifying our position and just waiting for them to get here. It's not comfortable, but it is the surest way to protect the base. Especially since we have the ion cannon here to help us out. Unless Kadaan pulls in more firepower than we're expecting, we should be able to put up a good fight."

Kess strolled away in thought as he spoke, digging deep into her wits to see a plan no else had thought of yet. She really didn't like the idea of just sitting here and waiting for them. Her back straightened and she swiveled to him on her heels. "What if we could find out which direction they were coming from?"

Luke dropped his back against the mainframe again and gladly entertained her idea just for the exercise of the debate. "Then we _would_ head them off. We'd go into battle light-years from the planet protecting the lives of the civilians, the Council, and the ground crews." He rubbed his lips together. "But how would we do it?"

Kess leered at him from the corner of her eye. "We get somebody on the inside."

He gave her a cockeyed grin. "It's too late to get a spy in there, Kess. They're already on the way."

"Not a spy," she squared her shoulders.

Luke recognized the look in her eye and his chest heaved for air.

Kess interrupted his flat out 'no' before he even said it. "They want me alive. Kadaan hadn't done anything weird until I started training and now he's freaking out because I'm so close to graduating. That's why he's attacking now. As soon as you and I left for an incognito training trip, he started moving his chess pieces around. The chance to plaster Yavin Base is almost like a secondary objective."

Luke coughed a sick laugh, "I think you're putting more value on your life than they are."

" _Sixty thousand credits_?" Kess shouted, spreading her hands. "That's an awful lot of money just to keep me from becoming your first sidekick."

His voice grew strong, forcing himself to meet her eye. "That bounty isn't just for you, Kess. That bounty is about what they _think_ you'll be carrying."

Kess blinked back.

" _That's_ why he's moving his chess pieces after our incognito training trip. _That's_ what this 'sharing' of the 'Usak' in Frakkan scripture was all about. Kadaan's vision about the end of your training wasn't about you being a Jedi at all. It was about you becoming pregnant," he tried to look strong about it, but his voice failed him, "with _my_ offspring."

Kess met his heavy gaze. Both of them fumbled with discomfort to be forced upon this topic before either of them were ready for it, but both grew more uncomfortable about what it meant on the immediate landscape.

Kess exhaled as slowly as she sat sideways in the nearest chair.

If all Kadaan wanted was for her to serve as an incubator to bring him the next generation of Skywalkers, Kess would never be safe. Whether or not she was a Jedi Knight or Jedi in Training, it didn't matter. Even if they caught the Frakkan spies somehow, there would always be more spies from somewhere, the immortal and perfectly legal NewsNets notwithstanding.

Every date. Every laugh. Every argument. Every glance caught on photocap. Every future moment between them that gave the galaxy reason to believe Luke and Kess finally—

And what about when they really _did_?

Luke's words were gingerly polite and carefully cold, "I'm sorry this has become a—

"But Kadaan wants me _alive_ ," she interrupted. "Right?"

Luke closed his mouth. He was already shaking his head.

"If I'm carrying your child, I have to be alive." She stood from the chair and faced him down, "And because he wants me _alive_ , I could get in there _alive_ and send out a signal telling the Alliance _right_ where they are."

"And they'd immediately find the transmitter on you and they'd kill you."

Kess' mouth tightened, her eyes darting around in the air for more ideas.

He stuffed his fists into his pockets, forcing his voice to sound like he was letting her down easy, "And there's no way you can get in there without them suspecting something anyway."

"Oh, come on, Luke!" She yelled in the dark, lonely bunker. "Walking out of your barracks at oh-two-hundred with a knot on the back of my hair will be all the convincing they'll need!"

Luke started to argue but scrunched his face instead.

Kess blushed in her own right but got back to business. "Think about it. We could easily flip the switch of opinion and get Shori Ka to kidnap me _without_ breaking any rules."

Luke's humor dissolved. He bit his lips to keep from interrupting her before he shot it down.

"And then when I got there, instead of an online transmitter or a homing device, just have a pulse generator. All I'd have to do is press a button and you guys would know right where I am. You could send the fleet out long before the Imperials realized what I did."

Luke's stepped up to her, toe to toe, and lowered a sinister voice, "If we send the fleet out to attack an Imperial battle group, from which you have transmitted, our fleet is going to attack the very same Star Destroyer _you will be on_." He sang it almost hatefully, "And I guarantee you, Kess, you will be in no position to get out on an escape pod. I've been in their detentions blocks. I know how secure they are."

Kess folded her arms at her chest and whispered harshly, "Why are you so against this?"

Luke burst a loud whine of his own, "I'm not in the habit of just turning people in to improve the odds of some battle, and I'm sure as hell not going to start now!"

She wiggled tense fingers in the air. "It would protect the lives of the Council, the ground crews, _and_ the civilian families _._ " She watched him step away and waved a hand at his back. "Consider it part of my training: the Jedi Apprentice goes up for the boss battle!"

Luke turned to her, raised his chin, and brought it back down with a rather loud and very final, "No!"

Her mouth stiffened. She faced him down across the open floor of the Command Center and said it very quietly, " _You_ would do it."

Luke let a stiff breath out of his nose and stormed to the terminal desk where they had been working, "That doesn't matter." He roughly began picking up the scattered cards and ripping others from the holomap drives.

Kess walked up to his side and stared at him.

He knew he would do it, and it _did_ matter.

But Luke wouldn't meet her eye. "Look, um," he rubbed his palm over his face, "it's been a long day. Take this stuff and see what else you can come up with. We can talk about it again tomorrow. I'll see if I can get you out of Gold Group for the meeting." He held out a handful of cards in the air to her.

After a stiff moment, Kess reached out to take them, but wasn't pleased.

Luke sensed it and sighed. "You did great today. You really did. And your idea it has merit. It's bold, it's brave, but I'm sorry it's kind of stupid. I am not sending you alone into the Imperial side of a really big firefight. I didn't put that much work into you just use you as some pawn."

Kess' eyes narrowed at him. There was more to it than that, and he knew it.

Luke tightened his jaw, but relaxed it with a shaking head. He grabbed his jacket and turned away, muttering in defeat. "I'll see you in the morning."

Kess watched him go. The bunker fell into silence at the slamming of the door. She dropped into a chair and stared at nothing.

For a moment, she agreed with him. She was in no hurry to die, and she was hardly arrogant enough to think she had fantastic chances of making it out of there alive. But the thought of Sultani plagued her. That beautiful city on red sand beaches, and all the lives within it, was gone. There were twice that many people here on Yavin Base, and these were her friends.

She shot out of the chair and went to the terminal. She went through the stack and brought out a couple of cards, determined to pick through the information until she either found a new plan, or worked out enough details to fortify this one.

 


	22. LL3 22 Let Me Go

** LL3 22 Let Me Go **

The air grew cooler as the sun began to fade and few people were out on the streets for a Benduday afternoon. Kess borrowed Yana's speeder and raced into the jungle. The late sun flashed across her face between long shadows. The speeder kicked up rooster tails of dust as she rounded corners, preparing for every turn before it appeared in the road in front of her. When she came to the last straight away, she just sped up.

Half of her was scared of the galactic events that seemed to revolve around her, the other half was angry at the inability to confront the problem face to face. But it was the realization of _why_ she couldn't confront the problem that made her so angry.

She fishtailed to a stop, skidding only a metre away from Luke's parked Canali 250. She hastily hopped out and rushed for the trail, but stopped short at the edge of the jungle.

What was once a barely visible path was now beaten to the point of obvious. Dew melted off trees, squirrels scurried away, and Kess suddenly realized that no one knew where this clearing was. Not Wedge, not Artoo, not even Leia.

The clearing was where Luke acted human. The clearing was where he vented. Luke always gave her the space she needed without her having to ask for it, and Kess felt like a villain for walking in on his.

She could sense his mood from klicks away. He was upset, and he had every reason to be, but Kess' mouth hardened. This was _her_ life that was being determined here. She wasn't going to let him win the debate just because he left the scene of the argument.

Kess firmly decided that she would follow his final decision, whatever it was, but he was going to have to explain himself first.

She could see him through the brush as she approached. Dirt smudged his khaki pants and beads of sweat dribbled down his hardened shoulders only to disintegrate in the ivory fabric of his tank top. The jungle breath misted up over him. Humidity sizzled on the green blade. Hard eyes stared down the attacking remote.

Kess draped her legs over the fallen log and locked her elbows. She said nothing.

Luke's movement paused. His eyes shifted to the ground in her direction, his jaw tightened, but he looked back at the remote instead, raising his guard again.

Kess watched him block a couple of shots while she tried to think of what to say and eventually decided just to start talking, no matter where the subject ended up. Her voice came out dry, "A Jedi Knight's purpose is to serve and protect peace and freedom, including the people of the New Alliance. And to protect them requires some risks. That's what you taught me."

Luke inhaled slowly and backed away from the remote, but he didn't look at her.

"I have a plan and I've worked out most of the details already. You're right: there _isn't_ a one hundred percent chance I'm going to make it, but there are too many lives at stake, too many _important_ lives."

He huffed through his nose and stepped up to the remote again, hissing between blast shots, "Since when was your life less important?"

Kess gathered her patience. "Thousands of people lost their lives in Sultani when Admiral Cheenan failed to nab me. Frond, Wilkerson, and Joust died protecting me from Lokey. We've got a million people on this moon, Luke. Only a few thousand of them will go into that battle. The rest will be safe if that battle _isn't_ in our orbit. The civilians. The _children_. All the shopkeepers and restaurant owners, the poor guys that run the droid shops and drive the runners. None of them have any say in this. They don't have a clue that they might die on Taungsday. It's not fair to them and we're not doing our job if we don't do what we can to protect them."

He stopped and faced her, lowering his blade for a moment. "So how will you get out?" he challenged.

Kess shrugged the obvious, "You can come get me."

His eyes rolled back into his head as he turned back to the remote. "If you're taken to a Star Destroyer, we have to _attack_ that Star Destroyer." He pointed out, blocking two shots. "If you're taken to Coruscant, we'd have to organize and even bigger firefight to get you out." He blocked another shot. "And if you're taken to the Core Worlds? Into the Imperial's rats nest?" He looked at her and an eyebrow jumped up, "Tell Ben I said hello."

Kess jumped off the log and shouted, "At least give me credit that it's a good idea! Don't just sit there and shoot me down like I don't even have a vote!"

Luke's mouth tightened as he stared down the remote. "It's a good idea and you do have a vote," he said stiffly, then confirmed his decision, " _No_."

This was the clearing, so Kess gave herself permission to lose her temper. She shot in front of him, ducking under the lethal lightsaber like it was merely a tree branch, and grabbed the buzzing remote from the air. The green blade was in motion when she did all this and Luke yanked back the thing to keep from slicing her head clean off.

He turned off the blade in a rush and, after he sighed away the panic, his eyes fell on the woman in front of him pitching the remote into shrubbery like a game ball. Luke watched it sail through the air with a perturbed mouth, but before he had the chance to give her a scolding glare about it, she ripped the hilt from his hand.

Luke's eyes widened as the hilt followed the remote, and then Kess' lightsaber followed that, crashing in the bushes a metre away.

Luke drug in a deep breath and glared at her over his nose.

She stepped toe to toe and grated a whisper through her throat. "You taught me to question everything and to make my own decisions. You taught me how to face the dark side and not let it get the best of me. So here I am, _Master_. I've made my decision, I'm ready to face him, and I'm questioning _your_ decision not to let me go."

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.

Kess yelled at his back. "The throne of the Empire wants me and he is going to keep trying to get me until either I die or he dies. I am not going to sit here and hide under my Jedi Master's wing or the New Alliance's skirt for the rest of my life. I'm not going to risk all these lives so I can just keep running in fear."

Luke's feet drifted him to the other side of the clearing.

"I have faced every dark emotion you've been able to come up with. Kadaan's the only burr left in my hide. _Yes_ , I might not come back, and _yes,_ I'm scared out of my wits for it but if I could help win this battle in the process, then it would at least give my death a _purpose_. I don't want to go up against him when _you're_ ready if it means that nobody is going to benefit from it if I fail."

Luke held both sides of his head to keep it from exploding.

"You know, when I first met you I thought I had it all figured out." The confidence in her voice was fading but still rough with frustration. "I knew where I was, I knew where I was going, and I knew what I had to do to get there. But you walked in and put a blender to my priorities and a meat grinder to my plans and if I didn't already have a crush on you, I would have hated you for it.

"You ripped my life to shreds so you could put the pieces back together the way _you_ wanted them to go. You ran me around that grinder and chased me off that cliff and sent me off to tell my father _exactly_ what he didn't want to hear. And you did it all in the name of Jedi Training. But now I'm having a hard time figuring out which part is training and which part isn't," her tone lowered, "because you have not given me one good _Jedi_ reason not to go."

Luke roughly combed his bangs away with his fingers and let out a shaky sigh. He wanted this training to be over so badly, but the longer he waited, the more complicated it got. He looked out to the trees and the bushes. He felt the complexity and the peace of the jungle, the solitary of the clearing. The birds chirped through the trees, and the breeze brushed passed his cheek. The clearing was quiet and peaceful. It was the only place he could be human, the only place he felt truly alone with her.

And they were still not alone. They would never be truly alone.

He breathed in defeat, "Kess, I don't have any good Jedi reasons—

She screamed, "Then why won't you let me go!"

" _Because I don't want to let you go!_ " The truth finally exploded in a growl that echoed exasperation into the looming timber.

She blinked.

"I don't want you to _die_! All right? I want you to live long enough so you _can_ graduate! So you can help me with the Academy and help me with the Guild!" But all his excuses of responsibility fell to pieces until all that was left was raw fear of losing her, leaving his heart wide open to be stabbed. "I want you to be around so I _can_ take you out to dinner, and then—" his growl quieted, "take you home." His chest heaved for air. "I want to have a _reason_ to take Benduday off, to sleep-in in the morning." His voice fell to a hopeless whisper, "get a house on a beach cliff…"

His breath quivered, his waving arm fell, and a painful regret crossed his expression as he realized what he was saying out loud. Luke pulled down his pained eyes, fervently combed back the sweaty hair at his temples, and turned away again.

Kess smiled from a sad face. Her voice was gentle but strong despite it. "I love you too."

Luke spun with surprise. She stood there wobbling between elated and falling apart, reading into his soul like— _like a pane of glass_. His heartbeat fluttered more as it sank in what _she_ just said. Blood retreated from his fingertips.

He closed the distance between them in a few long strides. His hands reached to take her, to kiss her, to whisper all those forbidden promises, to make love to her right here in the clearing—

But her hands came up and stopped his arms in mid-air.

Luke stopped short.

Kess looked him calmly in the eyes, "but my training is _not_ over." She whispered stiffly, "and it won't be over until I get Kadaan off my back." She squeezed his fingers in her hands and stared him down with a tense whisper. "And _you know that_."

Luke pressed his lips together and closed his eyes.

"If you give me one good Jedi reason not to go, if you think I'm not ready or if you think I'll turn, I won't go. But I can't risk all those lives just because I want to protect our chances of living happily ever after. That goes against every Jedi thing you ever taught me."

Luke's determination melted. He took her hands and lowered them, looking into the eyes of his apprentice. With all the politics and the rumors and the tension, she still kept everything in perspective. She didn't let her instinctive desire get in the way of her logic. She didn't huddle in fear at Kadaan's appetite or the entire Empire about to come down on top of them. Instead of getting tangled up in her own agendas, her own training and career, her own _romance_ , she thought of the people and the possible chance that she could save them.

The sorrow from facing her father faded with the bruises. The pride of getting this far into her training gave way to the odds of war strategies. And her love for Luke, though self-registered and admitted, was under control enough so that she could do her job.

It was a fine trait in a Jedi Knight.

_Jedi Knight._

It reminded Luke of his responsibilities, as a Commander, as a Master. He had abused his position to try to keep her from going. This internal battle emerged in him before. Sending pilots into a war zone to die was never easy and, over the years, he learned how to turn that particular emotion off.

But this was different. This was _very_ different. Kess was more than just his apprentice or Repair Supervisor. And even after she was done, she'd be more than just a fellow Jedi.

Luke realized she turned out exactly the way he wanted her to. And he forced himself to accept that he'd better get used to it. This wasn't the first time she would risk her life for the needs of the Alliance and it sure as hell wasn't going to be her last.

He took the last tiny step forward, pulled her into his body, and rested his temple on her forehead. He closed his eyes and held her as close and prayed hard that she would come back.


	23. LL3 23 A Plan For Getting Out

** LL3       23        A Plan For Getting Out **

Kess made Luke go home to take a shower and change and she did the same before they met again in the Command Center that evening, both in Jedi uniform this time. She worked fervently on the details of her plan as Luke commed certain personnel. A handful of Generals and Admirals showed up in civvies, one by one, and planted themselves around the darkened room to wait patiently for the whole crew to arrive.

Leia rushed to Luke. "Tell me it's good news."

Luke face was stoic again, the first time in a long time. "Depends on your point of view."

Hope drained from Leia's eyes.

Luke saw Admiral Sikey step in through the other door and realized Admiral Ackbar had already arrived too. Luke counted the bodies again, sighed, and glanced over at Kess. "Last chance to change your mind."

Kess was flustered but still determined. She pressed her lips together as she looked over the whispering crowd and just barely shook her head.

Luke stood straight and stepped to the glowing holomap. The Military Council placed themselves casually around the room, but Chief Commander Mothma, looking like she was ready for a real council meeting, stepped up to the other side of the holomap. "You have our attention, Jedi Skywalker."

Luke took in a breath and gestured at the three red bunches on the map's outer borders. "Our assessment of the data confirms yours. Kadaan's fleet is going to attack, but we believe they will rendezvous before approaching Yavin 4. There's no way they can coordinate an exact hyperspace jump from that distance. It would risk them arriving up to ten minutes apart, which could prove fatal in a confrontation of this size. I don't think Kadaan is going to risk his fleet like that."

He paused, letting the information sink in, and glanced at several people before he continued. "If they do rendezvous, we can attack them before they hit hyperspace towards Yavin 4. And if there are more battle groups out there, outside of our satellite network, we'll be able to hit all of them at once. Initiating a firefight away from the planet would save the lives of the civilian and ground crew as well as give us the element of surprise."

Admiral Ackbar strolled over, gesturing at the map. "I agree that they will rendezvous, but for the plan to work, we need to be _wholly_ certain we know the exact rendezvous point the moment they muster to it."

Luke's mouth tightened. He turned aside and looked at the floor. "Lieutenant?"

She bit her lower lip and shyly stepped into the light of the holomap, watching Ackbar take his place again, watching Mothma step back into the shadows a little. Already nervous, Kess opened her mouth and paused.

Luke hadn't moved. He stood by her side with his hands clasped behind his back and eyes downtrodden. He didn't like the plan, he wasn't convinced it would work, but he was still standing _with_ her.

It spiked her confidence enough to begin. She cleared her throat and spoke as expressionless as everyone else. "Supreme Prophet Kadaan has attempted to have me kidnapped three times. I suggest we _let_ him kidnap me this time. I would be taken to either the Fleet Admiral, or Kadaan himself and, as soon as they rendezvous, I can send a signal that would give you their precise location."

Leia turned her gaping mouth to Luke, but her incredulous eyes stayed on Kess. The murmurs in the room grew louder until they were pierced entirely when Han belted, "by _yourself_?"

Chief Commander Mothma stepped around the map carefully, sending an order over her shoulder. "Silence please." When the whispering slowed, she gestured curiously to Kess. "Please continue, Lieutenant."

Kess wasn't sure how many details she should reveal with a spy still running around, but then, this was the Military Council. If there were any spies in here, they were in a black hole for sure. "There is at least one spy here that Kadaan had been communicating with about me. Convincing that spy that he has successfully nabbed me should be pretty easy. Once I'm in the air, the council can gather and hit the air raid alarm. Our troops can hit hyperspace as soon as you get my signal and attack the Imperials before they even know you're coming."

General Rieekan squinted pessimistically at her. "How will you get a transmitter passed their scanners?"

Kess grinned as she pulled the lightsaber off her belt. "With this." She offered it to him, but he didn't take it, he just peered inside the tiny open door. "I've altered my lightsaber to send out a signal pulse at a certain frequency and amplitude. The frequency will tell you it's me, the deteriorating amplitude will tell you my distance and the direction will," she shrugged, "well, tell you direction. I chose a frequency that is a product of a Star Destroyer's normal function: the recharge of the short wave guns, but the amplitude will need to be huge to reach Yavin 4. A nominal reading would appear as though it had spiked, which would be perceived by an Imperial operator that the recharge units are on the brink of failure. If we're lucky, they might even delay the attack to check the guns."

As General Rieekan shrugged with approval and stepped back again.

Admiral Sikey sounded from the back of the room. "What if they take the lightsaber away from you? The first step in kidnapping somebody is to disarm them."

"And they _will_ ," Luke spoke out, "but she's a Jedi. If that transmitter is anywhere on the same Star Destroyer she is, she can trigger it."

Kess squared her shoulders a little more.

Whispers rolled through the room.

Crix Madine pointed at Kess' lightsaber like she was crazy. "Aren't you going to want that thing _in working condition_ while you're up there?"

Kess scratched her ear. "It's the least likely gadget they'd take away from me."

Leia stepped up with impatience, "Once the signal has been sent how do you plan to get out?"

Kess met Luke's eyes for a moment before responding. "When our forces attack with a good punch, it'll give me enough of a distraction to work with, and then I'll just have to," she shrugged pitifully, "wing it? _"_

Leia forced herself to blink over bulging eyes and cussed at Luke. "No plan for getting out? Haven't we learned our lesson about that?"

Admiral Ackbar stepped up to the map studiously, "We cannot be sure that Shori Ka is the only other spy. Can we send up our forces with standing orders so we can block all transmissions before we hit the air raid alarm?"

Admiral Sikey stepped up with him. "I'm sure we can devise something. We can alert all the Group Commanders of the plan before she leaves." Yellow eyes turned to Kess and Luke. "Are we certain the spy isn't a Group Commander or above?"

Kess shook her head and looked to Luke for an answer, since the spy has been watching his private life. "How many other GCs do you hang out with?"

"If it were a GC or above this would be a whole different ball game already." Luke looked to Admiral Sikey, "I think you're safe telling the Group Commanders."

Rieekan cocked his head at them with impatience, "You need to figure out who the spy _is_ before you can convince them to kidnap you."

Kess nodded, "Yes, General."

The Chief Commander squared her shoulders at Luke. "Jedi Skywalker, are you confident that your apprentice is ready for such an endeavor? _Single-handily?_ I do not want to turn over a Jedi for Kadaan to complete her training on the wrong side."

Luke's chin raised. "Yes, Chief Commander." His eyes went to Kess. "I have absolute confidence she can do this."

A smile curled Kess' lips.

Chief Commander Mothma turned to the council. "Very well. Let's work out the details."

Leia divided the council into groups of two and three people and tasked them each to work on a particular detail of the plan. Kess watched in astonishment as the high command of the New Alliance took her plan apart, finding the holes, and filling them up for her. Most of the bodies gathered around the same set of terminals, two of the Admirals typing away. Kess looked over Lando's shoulder until the pirate let her step around him so that Admiral Ackbar could address her directly. Whether she wanted it or not, Kess was in the thick of it now.

The activity of the room geared up and the volume of the voices increased, which was not an unusual sight in the Command Center bunker, but Luke stepped back out of the crowd, leaned his shoulder against a far wall, and bowed his head for a quick meditation.

Leia waited until he raised his head again before stepping over with a gentle voice. "What happened to the Jedi not being expected to give their lives for the New Alliance?"

Luke focused on her in the dark corner and whispered monotonously. "It was her idea."

Han dropped his shoulder on the wall behind Leia and flicked his chin at Luke. "So how are we going to get her out?"

"I tried to talk to her about a plan, but she wouldn't go for it. She wants to play it by ear." Luke gritted his teeth at his sister. "It's like she's _trying_ to become as stubborn as you."

Leia smiled sweetly as she turned, "Well then, let's see if she can beat me at being stubborn."

The trio approached the crowd at the other end of the room, but Luke hung back behind the rest. Leia met Kess in the middle of the floor. "Let's talk about how to get you _out_ of there. The signal will tell us which ship you're on. Han can land the _Falcon_ on a predetermined spot on the Star Destroyer and Luke can run in and get you—

Kess was already shaking her head. "No way. You guys gotta be out there to fight." She peeked between their shoulders to Luke. "What if the Star Destroyer blows up while you're on it?"

Luke smiled at her from under his eyebrows. "What if the Star Destroyer blows up while _you're_ on it?"

Kess shook her head at Han, but pointed at Luke. "He needs to be out there leading Rogue Group."

Han glanced over, " _Will_ you be leading Rogue Group for this one last hoorah?"

Kess squinted hard at Han and narrowed a glare at Luke.

Luke squeezed his eyes shut with a curse. "Oh, _blast!_ "

He stepped between the bodies, grabbed her hand, and dragged her from the crowd. As soon as he had the elbow room to do so, he pulled her in front of his stride and ushered her into the conference room. Kess tightened her jaw as she stepped halfway down the side of the table and spun around already angry. Luke shut the door behind him.

There was a short silence.

Han pursed his lips, "Oops."

Lando raised an eyebrow at Han and Leia. "They fight like you guys do."

Madine stepped through them to the terminal they were blocking and commented it as casually as if he had been standing there the whole time, "Yeah, but that's a supposed to be a good sign."


	24. LL3 24 Get Me In There

** LL3       24        Get Me In There **

As soon as the conference room door closed them in privacy, Luke stepped to her and met her eye. "I'm resigning my commission."

Kess winced violently, "What?"

Luke put his hands on her upper arms to calm her down. "We have been running ourselves ragged for months. We're both exhausted and it has shown up in our work. You may be able to get back to normal after your training's over but I won't. I have to go out there and train the _next_ apprentice and then the _next_ one. That's a full-time job in itself, not to mention setting up the Guild and all these treaty missions I keep going on."

His reasons didn't faze her. Her mouth was still gaping with disbelief. "At least you could have told me you were thinking about it." Kess slapped her hands on her thighs. "Or was that going to be yet another thing that was waiting for my training to be over?"

Luke lowered his tone. "I was hoping that you, of all people, would support me on this."

She swallowed hard. "Is this because of something I did? You know I'm back in Gold Group already, right? I'm not going to be around Pad 14 causing you heartache anymore."

"No, I've been considering it for a while. It had nothing to do with you."

Unsure of her place here, she softened, but didn't back off. "What then? You've wanted this since you were a kid. You get squirmy when you can't fly for a few days. What could possibly—

"Kess, I decided to do this years ago. I've just been waiting for a good time to do it, but I realized on our trip that there wasn't going to _be_ a good time. It's always going to be one thing after another, and I simply have other things to do that can't wait any longer for me to 'find the time'."

She was worried more than she was curious. "Like what?"

Luke started but closed his mouth. "Look, I'm sorry. Okay? This only came up yesterday. I didn't want to spoil the reception and then today," he waved a hand at the door and dropped it, "today, my mind has been on _you_ , not my commission." He pleaded for her forgiveness, "and I just _forgot._ "

Kess closed her eyes and cursed herself for blowing up at him, but the news did slap her across the face. She held his elbow, wanting to hold much more than just an elbow. She dropped her forehead on his shoulder.

Luke turned to her, taking her by both shoulders, and ducking into her sights until she looked him in the eyes. "Listen to me." His whisper came out deathly quiet, "You are about to go up against your biggest test. Worse than facing your father. Worse than _me_ facing _mine_."

Her mouth parted with sharp trepidation.

"I know I'm a hypocrite for saying this, but the _last_ thing you should be worrying about right now is my commission. Don't be wasting brain time worrying about me. And when you're up there, don't worry about where _I_ am, or if _I'm_ safe." He shook her by the shoulders with a harsh-whispered order. " _You_ worry about _you_ , and _I'll_ worry about me." His voice died to almost nothing, "and then _you come back_ _to me_."

Kess breathed carefully. She nodded. "Okay."

Luke nodded back. "Okay."

They left the conference room and returned to the busy council trying to prepare for every contingency. Han and Lando stepped up to Kess expectantly, "Now about getting you out of there…"

Kess looked back at Luke, but Luke didn't give her the chance to argue. He flipped on the switches and pulled up the piecemealed schematic of an Imperial Class Star Destroyer. "They'll probably have her in the detention cells or the bridge." The bridge lighted red within the fine blue lines of the Star Destroyer's tower. The gang watched the schematic rotate from vector to vector and Kess slowly joined them. She watched Han, Lando, Luke, and Leia all discuss options about where to park the _Falcon_ , and what to do if she wasn't on the bridge when they did. The murmuring of the Admirals and Generals flowed through the darkness like water.

The reality of this began to soak into her brain and Kess' mind started to wander. She stared at the red-lined bridge, then looked through the hologram into the air beyond, focusing on Luke's black tunic and Jedi Uniform. She saw his jaw muscles rippling as he talked and his teeth clench in between sentences. She saw the skin of his neck and the Jedi pin on his collar and she thought about how the long months of training were about to come to an end.

 _Jedi Training._ Running around the grinder before dawn and running around the jungle long after dinner. Grabbing a bite to eat between exercises. Reading ancient books of history during hurried walks to work. Trying to meditate while she rushed away from his barracks. Trying not to throw hand tools at his head on Pad 14. Hours upon days of monotonous study in his den. Even more hours of serene practice and mysterious stories in the clearing. And all of it sprinkled with moments that weren't supposed to be sweet, but were anyway.

If it weren't for the girly girls supporting her through the parts that Luke wouldn't, Kess would have never made it this far. She depended so much on her friends so she could vent her frustration into friendly ears—

"Dammit!" Kess' shout echoed in the dark room.

Conversation halted.

"The girly girls. The Mash Pit. Even last night when Kayla called you on the comm about what I was going to wear." Her eyes widened at Luke. "The spies aren't watching _your_ private life, they're watching _mine_."

Luke's face wrinkled as he turned away with a curse. As soon as the word left his mouth his eyes landed on Kess. Luke was thinking the same thing Kess was now saying out loud. "We can use this."

The high command was now paying close attention to this discussion. From across the circle of intently listening Admirals and Councilors, Luke chose his words carefully. "Are you sure you want to do it this way?"

"We don't have to 'do' anything, Luke." Kess angled her head to point out. "My roommates don't know what time I got home last night."

Luke painfully squinted one eye completely shut.

"I was asleep before they got home," she expounded. "I haven't seen any of them since you picked me up for the Reception yesterday. Still, at this point, convincing them you and I were 'good little Jedi' during the training trip is going to be nearly impossible anyway." She motioned her hand to think on that only to find Admirals and Generals watching this entire discussion in judgmental silence. Kess laughed at the ludicrousness of it all. "Even _these_ guys think we've already broken Jedi ranks! Convincing the grapevine I might already be carrying your kid is going to be a piece of cake!"

Luke sighed tightly and spoke evenly. "Until the Empire gives you a blood test."

"In the middle of a battle?" She blinked madly at him. "Or even just the preparation for one? These spies have been convinced enough to kidnap me three times already, and we haven't even had a dinner date!"

Luke shrugged a reluctant eyebrow that she was right.

"All we need to do is _get me in there_ ," she insisted. "Even if Kadaan does give me a blood test, don't you think my kidnap cover will be blown the moment the Rebel Fleet shows up at their rendezvous point?"

"She's right," Ackbar said, piercing the silence.

Madine motioned to Kess. "You have to get out of here."

Leia shoved to her feet. "She needs to get back to the barracks and start pretending like nothing's going on. If the spies know were in here planning a counter-offensive, they'll alert the Imperials."

Luke stood up and marched across the space to Kess, fidgeting with his collar as he went. Just when the gathering began to shift and murmur to get back to work, his movement shut them all up again when he put his Jedi pin on _her_ collar.

Despite the population of the dark room, their eyes met in a tense silence.

"It's on loan," Luke told her, and everyone heard it. "You pull this off, I'll get you one of your own."

Pressing a smile of shy pride, she nodded.

His voice was fatherly firm. " _Do not_ leave this planet without telling me first."

She gave him an assuring smile. "I won't. You guys just keep working on this. I'll find a way to let you when I figure out who it is."

He nodded with worry. It took several seconds for Luke to decide what to say. He finally gave in and muttered it, "May the Force be with you."

Kess smiled softly, "You too." She looked in his eyes long enough for him to realize what she really meant. The corner of his mouth curled a little, and then he watched her rush out the door.


	25. LL3 25 We've Been Had

** LL3       25        We've Been Had **

Kess rushed back to her barracks, thinking hard about who her real friends were. She had her suspicions about the identity of Shori Ka, but forced herself to play it safe, for even her well-meaning friends could blow this whole thing with a slip of an innocent tongue.

There was only one girly girl she knew she could trust completely, and gathered the woman up from the barracks without explaining anything until they got in the speeder.

Before Kess entirely finished her explanation, Yana shouted from the driver's seat. "You're gonna do _what?_ "

Kess spoke low, "C'mon, girly. Keep it together. It's a Jedi thing. I gotta go up against the bad guy."

Yana put her palm to her forehead, but managed to keep her wits. "They're all on a double date tonight. We should fuel up the speeder before we go to the Mash Pit."

"That a girl."

"Do you know who it is?"

"I think I do. Yeah." Kess fretted at what this was going to do to her best friend. "Kayla is _not_ going to be a happy woman."

* * *

Han and Lando were arguing over who would fly and who would be in the gun turret and Admiral Ackbar took over the holomap to plan attack formations. Leia breathed away the stress and glanced over. She found Luke half-sprawled in a chair and rubbing his weary eyes.

"Luke, you're exhausted." She knelt at his side and hung on the armrest. "We can take care of this. You go home and get some sleep."

Luke tapped his thumbnails on his lips, not looking at her.

She went from pleading to ordering. "She's not going anywhere until tomorrow at the soonest. The Imperials are still three days away, which means we'd have to wait three days before we do hear from her. If you are going to get any sleep, you'd better go do it now."

He stood as if to leave, but didn’t. "Leia," he lowered his voice. "As logical as all this seems, I've got a really bad feeling about this plan."

"Of course you do," Leia let him down gently. "It wouldn't be love if you didn't."

His eyes flicked over.

She smiled warmly, "Go home."

Luke sighed in defeat but warned as if it were a threat of some kind. "I'll be in here first thing tomorrow."

Leia patted his hand as he left, "so will we."

* * *

Yana and Kess strutted into the Mash Pit pretending to be giddy. The music pounded through smoke and the smell of ale. They weaved through crowded tables to the booths in the back where Joanne and Kayla were slowly getting drunk and their dates were quickly getting lucky.

"Dang! You escaped training late today, girly girl." Kayla shuffled closer to Rett to make some room. "Wanna beer?"

Joanne cuddled deeper into Hagat's arms. "We haven't seen you since last night. How was the Reception?"

Kess raised her grinning chin and pointed excitedly at the pin on her collar.

Joanne's face struck with wild and wonderful shock.

Kayla stood up and threw her arms out so she could reach over the table and hug Kess. "When did this happen?"

Kess settled into the booth to tell them all with a shine. "Last night after the Reception. He didn't want to spoil his sister's big day so he waited until it was over."

Congratulations rolled around the table as Yana pulled over the nearest chair. "I think the Jedi Knight here deserves a celebration, don't you think?"

As usual, the activity spun up like a little social tornado, several discussions erupted at once, new food was ordered and beer was passed around. Questions shot at her with eagerness, respect shined, toasts rose into the air, and Kess took it all in with a calm and humble happiness.

News travels fast, especially in South Base, which was exactly what Kess intended. Acquaintances of random closeness stopped by the table from time to time to congratulate her. Despite that this venue was entirely informal and the company dotted with people she considered her closest friends, Kess secretly felt this hullabaloo was no better than the snooty discourse she suffered at the Minister of State Reception. What was worse, the more she sensed out to the mottled madness of emotions in the gathering around her, the more she confirmed her suspicions on the identity of Shori Ka, and realized where she had made her mistake all along.

Kayla wrinkled a cute groundhog nose at something Rett said, and all of his attention was directed back to his own date. The man kissing Kayla lavishly behind the ear and was reeking with deceit, a deceit that could have been easily mistaken for just a young buck trying to score. Sapphire eyes, cinnamon blonde hair, and a Lando Calrissian smile, Rett D'monck snuggled up behind Kayla's ear still pretending that his entire agenda revolved around simply getting Kayla into bed.

As predicted, Kayla eventually snuck a secret question at Kess. "If you're graduated, and your training is over, should you be _elsewhere_ doing other _things_ right now?"

Smugly, Kess rested her chin in her hand and narrowed evil eyes at her friend. "Do I get extra credit for finishing my homework early?"

Kayla's painted mouth began a fresh smile. "When?"

Kess answered only by batting her eyelashes at Kayla.

Kayla spread her hands and squealed again. "Yes! You _do_ get extra credit, girly girl!" She reached over to hug Kess again, then sat back down (practically on Rett's lap) with a squeak of a cheek-pinching auntie. "Oh, I am so proud of you!"

As Kayla attracted all the attention, Kess noticed the color in Rett's face had momentarily drained. She sensed the panic well up in the Force for a split second before it faded into hard, decisive determination. But Rett managed to sit there behind Kayla with an almost apathetic gaze, uncaring what the girls were talking about as long as he was going home with his date.

Kess tried not to care. She tried to meditate in the brief moments mid-conversation. She tried not to hate him. She tried not to over-react.

She must have tried enough because it didn't take long before Rett oozed in an openly 'sly' comment at her. "Yo, Kess, you'll never guess what I picked up at Lokey's liquidating auction."

Kess hid behind her mug. "It would figure you'd buy up as much of that bishwag's crap as you could."

Rett shrugged that off. "Fencing gear on the cheap. Why wouldn't I?"

Kess shrugged too. "So? What? Are you going to start your own class now?"

"Dunno," he smirked but didn't try to hide his devious nature at this discussion. "Perhaps I should want to test my skill against a true opponent first."

Kayla kindly defended Kess. "Do you have any idea how much trouble she got into for the last one?"

Rett shook that off, "She's her own Jedi now, I thought." He flicked taunting eyebrows at Kess. "You owe me. Don't you think?" He wagged an index finger at her belt. "But without the blade this time. Just snubs."

The deceit coming from him was sharp, and it was just as obvious in his eyes and on his grin as it was on the Force. Rett's tactic wasn't to _hide_ his emotion, it was to mask it as something else. As long as everyone believed he was just in it for the sex, just in it for the duel, just in it for the money, no Jedi could determine what exactly he was after.

Clever, really.

And, as usual, the man didn't hesitate to go in for the kill.

The whole gang of the table watched with bated breath to see if she had turned into the same stoic, serious Jedi that Living Legend trained her to be. But they openly hoped that little ol' Kess retained a little bit of that irresponsible playfulness they loved her for.

Kess narrowed her eyes at the man and smirked deviously back. "You're on."

Biting his lower lip, Rett slapped the table with giddy success. The gang swooned into action. The tab was paid. The drinks were emptied. Bodies stood and filed out of the booth table. At her open suggestion to some, and her slyly waving hand at others, the party broke up to leave the restaurant and headed for the door.

Rett decided they should do this somewhere well out of the way so no one gets hurt and no one gets in trouble. Kayla began to tag along with him. Rett had to go home to pick up the snubs anyway. Kess stopped that discussion before it began.

"No. I'm pulling rank." Kess called to them. "The girly girls are going in Yana's speeder with me because I have a story to tell. We will pick up something to drink, you pick up the snubs, and we'll all meet on the ridge." She spread her hands at Rett. "Cool?"

Rett stepped backwards with a nod, wrapping his arm across his stomach and bowing once at them all. "See you in twenty minutes."

With that, he turned and motioned Hagat toward his speeder. (Poor Hagat was still trying to catch up on what was happening.) Yana and Kess jumped silently into the front seats of Yana's speeder. Kayla and Joanne climbed into the back, chatting merrily. Both began poking questions at Kess about her graduation. Yana took her time to power up.

Two hard sets of eyes watched through mirrors as Rett's speeder powered up and move away around the corner.

Kess whispered tightly. "I can't believe I didn't see it all along."

Yana muttered, "Do you think Hagat's in on it too?"

Kayla and Joanne went silent and shifted forward in their seats, poking their heads between the shoulders of Yana and Kess.

Kess narrowed her eyes at the disappearing speeder. "No," Kess said quietly. "Hagat's just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rett will probably lose him on the way up to the ridge."

"Now?" Yana asked with a splash of madness on her face. "You think he's going to do it _now_?"

Kess eyed the dark street a moment longer before turning to Yana and nodded with painful reality. "He probably wants to get out of here before the bigger party starts. He knows what's coming better than we do."

Kayla's voice was as heavy as a lead weight. "You wanna clue us in there, Little Miss Jedi Knight?"

Kess pulled the Jedi Pin off her collar with a sad sigh and muttered to Yana, "Stop by Luke's place for a minute."

Joanne's black eyebrows hardened. "Hullo! Are you deaf? What the hell is going on?"

Kess turned solemnly to the worried pair in the back seat. "We've been had, girly girls." She sighed sadly at the news that would hit Kayla hard. "We've been had."

* * *

Kess put her thoughts to the door lock. It swished open to the silent barracks apartment. Only the kitchen's counter light was on, glowing white-blue onto the clean ivory floor and black furniture. Her footsteps echoed as she hurried in. Artoo woke up when his sensors detected the front door was jimmied. He blinked on and blathered annoyed beeps at her for waking him up.

Kess patted his dome head. "It's just me. Go back to sleep."

Artoo swiveled downward as if sighing at her ignorance, quietly beeped a derogatory comment about droids not having the capacity to sleep and promptly put himself on standby again.

Luke was already blinking out of his meditation when she opened the bedroom door.

He knew immediately it was her and that he was in no danger, but a thousand questions crossed his mind as she climbed onto the foot of the little bed and crawled to over his legs on her hands and knees. He rose onto one elbow in a sleepy alert, the black sheet spilled off his bare chest as he half-sat up, and then his eyebrows tied into a hard knot when she pressed her mouth against his.

She pulled away and looked him in the eye, still hovering on her hands and knees over his side. Her brows furrowed almost as much as his did.

Luke blinked, but before his thoughts formed the words to argue, he sensed the swirling anxiety from her, a touch of fear, a touch of worry, and overflowing determination.

She was leaving.

 _Now_.    

His lips parted, his eyes widened, and he reached for her the same moment Kess realized he wasn't going to bark at her. She fell to the bed at his side and drank in the feel of big arms around her. He cradled her, almost rolling on top of her, kissing her lavishly. He reached deep and swallowed as much passion as he could grab in a fraction of a minute. His fingers caressed their way into the feather soft hair behind her ear while the other hand took her side and pulled her hip into him.

Kess' body fit perfectly in his grip, like the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle of his life. She brought warmth to the cool sheets of his bed. Her hair splashed gold across the ominous pillows. She drew her claws lightly across his back like she couldn't get close enough. The kiss lasted a long desperate minute before he slowed to a stumbling stop.

His mouth hovered open over hers, panting speechless and scared.

He wanted to say it, but the words caught in his throat. The Force trembled with impending doom as it this would be the last time he would see her alive. Luke squeezed the reaction of human emotion from his eyes.

She pulled Yana's commlink out of her breast pocket and shoved it into his hand. When he squinted at it, she whispered to him in the darkness. "You can follow the commlink signal up to a few gigametres. It'll give you the direction we're going long before I get there. The thing's power cell will be long drained by the time I get to the battle groups, so as long as he doesn't realize it's on, you've got enough of a homing device to get you started."

He closed his fingers around the link.

He had a very bad feeling about this.

Luke focused on her in the darkness and then kissed her again, soft, slow and deliberate.

Their lips parted for the last time, and after a good long pause to stare into each other's eyes, Kesselia slipped out of his arms, crawled off the bed, and left.


	26. LL3 26 Toban Ridge

** LL3       26        Toban Ridge **

 

**PRIMEDAY**

Yana slowly drove the speeder up the windy mountain road to the top of Toban Ridge. Her headlights fell on the shield generator unit that huddled in the corner of the beaten jungle clearing at the top of the cliff. She turned into the rough parking lot that housed a handful of late night parties and drunken stupors in the past. A single speeder parked on the ridge, facing out to the valley where the base and surrounding city glittered in a thousand lights below. Yana parked the speeder near the end of the lot and powered it down.

Kayla was staring harshly out the window, her elbow propped up on the ledge, and her tense fingers pressed to her stiff mouth. "Can I kill him?"

"No," Kess told her quietly, but understanding the woman's desire to. "Use the blasters only for defense, and to defend the shield generator link. _You have to let him take me_. As soon as I'm gone, go straight to the Command Center and get your eyes on my signal." She pulled the straps away and climbed out.

Yana jumped out and Joanne was right behind her. They went to the trunk and started pulling out four fully charged blasters of various flavors.

Kess marched over to the quiet speeder in the lot and pounded hard on the foggy window. The speeder shook as someone yanked himself out of his intimate activity and the window lowered with an angry face peeking out.

Kess peered in. The kids were barely out of school. The girl pulled a shirt over her bare chest and the boy was panting madly until he recognized Kess.

"You must leave."

The boy's brows knitted.

"Don't speed, and don't stop the next car from coming up." Kess gestured her fingers in his eyes. "Go home and stay there. Right now."

The boy nodded fervently, hit the power switch with one hand, and hit the window control with the other. In a moment, the speeder purred away and down the windy cliff road.

The jungle mist of midnight chilled her cheeks and raised goose bumps on her forearms. The far off dead moon of Yavin 5 glowed a dim blue light down on the jungle. Kess stepped toward the cliff with a hard glare at the beautiful scenery, listening to the crickets and frogs singing all around the lot, listening to the shuddering hum of the shield generator unit huddling lightless in the shrubs behind her.

The reason this road was plowed in the first place was to let service vehicles get to that shield generator unit. That's why Rett picked this spot. He planned to take out the shield generator the same time he planned to take out Kess.

Looking out over the valley, at the shimmering city kilometres away, she easily sensed Luke's glow near North Base, but with all the other lives sleeping soundly down there, and all the animal and plant life spreading thick through the jungle, it would have been a task to sense out Rett or anyone he was with.

Kess turned away. 'Shori Ka' was coming to her anyway.

She returned to the girlies standing behind Yana's speeder. "Stand around the far side of the speeder and hide the blasters. Make it look like were just talking."

Joanne reached out for a blaster with trepidation about this. Yana slapped another blaster in Kess' hand. Kess watched Kayla finally crawl out of the speeder and step to them. Even in the darkness, she could see the fire of hate in Kayla's green eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Kayla."

Kayla held out a hand. "Blaster."

When Kess didn't give it to her right away, Kayla stepped closer and demanded. "Give me the damn blaster!"

Kess pressed her lips together. "You can't kill him."

Kayla grabbed the thing from Kess' hand, huffing for a retort, wanting to at least be allowed to hurt the man very badly. But her nose twitched as her anger was stifled by the mission. Rett had to get away without a scratch so he could kidnap Kess without the Imperials suspecting anything. "Then you kill him for me when you get up there."

Kess turned away, having no intentions of taking revenge out on anybody, but wanting to make her friend feel better anyway. "I'll see what I can do." She propped a foot on the bumper, where her body would hide the blaster on her hip and pulled her lightsaber off the belt clip. She let her arm hang casually at her side, and looked out toward the road.

Yana shut the trunk and slid sideways on top of it, facing Kess, and also letting her blaster-filled hand hang below the chassis. Joanne propped an arm on the roof, and Kayla rested her shoulder on the driver's side window, all watching the road instead of each other.

After a long silence, Kayla spoke. "Kess?"

Kess kept her eyes on the road. "Yeah?"

"I'll make you a deal," Kayla said.

"What?"

Kayla paused long enough for Joanne to look at her and Yana turn around curiously. Finally, the woman burst out. "I promise I won't shoot that bishwag if you would just tell me what the hell is going on between you and Luke."

Kess looked away. Now was not the time for this.

"We may not live through this, girly girl. We have a right to know what we're fighting for!"

"All right already! He kissed me. But nothing more." Kess shouted. "Is that what you want to hear?"

"What made you _stop_?"

Joanne hit her forehead on the speeders hood.

Yana turned to look back at the road with a quiet, "Seriously?"

Kess was surprised she had to spell this out for the woman. "Kayla, if I start this on sex all it will ever _be_ is _sex_." Kess admitted it in a whisper, "I love him more than that."

Those words humbled Kayla in a way Kess had never seen in the woman.

Kess whispered quieter. "You want more out of men than that too."

Kayla rubbed her lips and looked out to the still empty road that would bring Rett to them.

Kess found her voice again. "I can't tell you everything, Kayla, but _I promise_ I will make you proud."

Kayla's eyes turned to her in the darkness, seeming to hold together from exploding in tears and anger only by Kess' promise of friendship and penetrating insight. "I'm going to hold you to it, girly girl."

Kess nodded it with conviction.

When the silence fell again, they could hear the speeder coming. Kess could feel the growing anxiety in her friends as the headlights shined from around the corner and realized just how much danger she was putting them in. As the four looked out at the speeder pulling up the mountain, she whispered to them, "I can't thank you guys enough for this."

Yana muttered quietly in return, "Thank us when you come back."

The speeder groaned as it pulled its heavy contents up the last stretch and crawled to a parking spot, but another speeder groaned up behind it. The girlies stiffened. Kess counted over eight bodies between the two vehicles and adjusted her grip on her hiding lightsaber.

They watched as Rett climbed out of the first speeder with a delightful smile, but a crowd of human males crawled out with him. Kess recognized only one of the eight men, and he was just an acquaintance from the supply distribution from Complex B. As she suspected, Hagat wasn't there. She noted optimistically that they managed to weed out eight spies in one mission. "Not bad," she commented to no one.

Three of the men crossed the parking lot to the shield generator in the far corner like they were taking a piss. Rett had a blaster at his hip and something else in his hand as he stepped over, still putting on the charade, even though the other four were placing themselves behind him with blasters pointed at the women.

The girlies stared hard at them, not surprised, not worried, and not saying anything about anything.

Rett stopped at the edge of Yana's trunk and looked at Kess, "Shoe's on the other side of your mouth?"

Kess raised a brow, "What do you expect me to say?"

Rett started, but his eyes lit up as he looked at her. "You knew," he realized aloud. "So why are you here?" He asked. He didn't take his eyes off her but told one of the men behind him. "Alert Father his plan has been foiled. The Rebels know they're coming."

An older man with graying hair at his temples pulled out a long-range comm unit and switched it on. In a flash, Kess flicked on her lightsaber and lunged toward the man, slashing down at his arm and severing his hand from his elbow. The hand still grasped the large comm unit as it tumbled to the ground. The man fell to his knees screaming at his severed limb.

With that, Joanne, Yana, and Kayla raised their blasters and ducked behind the speeder all at once, firing at every standing body except for Rett. One went down immediately. The others strafed back and fired in return. Shouting from the shield generator ensued. Blast shots sprayed in all directions and everyone scrambled for cover.

Kess sidestepped to get behind Yana's speeder again, but Rett stepped forward to her as he lit his own lightsaber. Kess instinctively raised her guard and the blades crashed together.

Kess looked passed the red-hot glow at the face of her old partner and knew instantly that this man was no undercover Jedi. He had the emotions of a spy in a sticky situation, nothing more. He answered her question so she wouldn't have to ask it. "You don't need Force skills to know how to handle one of these."

Kess strafed back a few more steps, getting her and Rett out of the line of fire.

Rett tapped her blade, "I hate to break it to you, Kess, but I let you win at that party. You were just too drunk to tell the difference." He pulled back and brought his blade down with a crashing blow, Kess deftly blocked it over her head.

Kayla glanced back at the two dueling and aimed her blaster for another shot at the speeder the others had dipped behind. Yana squinted out at the shield generator looking for signs of the others, but couldn't make out any bodies in the darkness. Under all the noise of the blast shots and the screaming man on the ground, they could still here the generator's shuddering hum. It was still on, but not for long.

Kayla popped her head up, fired, and ducked back down again. An array of fire pelted the side of Yana's speeder and sailed passed their heads.

Occasionally, Kess had to pull her blade away from Rett's to block a shot headed in her direction. He usually took the advantage and lunged, but still couldn't get through her defenses. Kess strafed back until she was nearly in the jungle and held his blade at bay. She didn't try any fatal swings at the man. She needed him alive. She just wanted to keep him out of the way of the other fight. Letting him show off his sword-fighting skills seemed to be working just fine to distract him.

Suddenly, the farthest parked speeder powered up and roared its engines out of the parking space.

Kayla swore as she ducked. "They're trying to alert the Imperials."

Yana fired a couple of shots at the back of the fleeing speeder until it disappeared behind the generator and kept going, then she quickly gave up to shoot one of the men who lost his cover when it moved. He fell to the ground.

Joanne slinked behind them both and tapped Yana on the shoulder as she passed. "Cover me."

Immediately, Kayla and Yana plastered the racing speeder, then the men hiding behind the parked speeder, then the bushes near the generator. Joanne ducked to run towards the nearest bushes and dipped into the trees. Her dark-skinned body faded quickly into the night.

As soon as Joanne disappeared, Kayla jumped head-first into Yana's speeder and shouted at her. "I'll shoot! You drive!"

Yana fired a few more shots, another man on the front line went down, and she jumped into the driver's seat. The speeder twisted back and stopped where it was pelted with a dozen shots from the bushes.

Then Yana hit the accelerator and zoomed between the last speeder and the generator. As they passed, a shot came sideways across the parking lot and nailed the last man on the front line in the forehead.

In seconds, Yana's speeder sped into the jungle as well.

Before the noise of it all completely echoed away, a man howled in pain and fell to the ground from behind the generator.

The shots went silent and the generator's hum filled the air again.


	27. LL3 27 Speeder Chase

** LL3       27        Speeder Chase **

Luke rushed out of his barracks building fully dressed and fully charged. Artoo beeped at his heels complaining about how long it took to comm all the Council back into the Command Center in the middle of the night.

As he raced to his speeder, he could sense Kess' little victory. He could sense the fears of the others, and he looked up to the ridge, just barely visible in the moonlight. Not more than five kilometres south of the clearing, he saw the last few blast shots of a showdown at the top of Toban Ridge. He could sense that a few of them were racing along the top of the cliff on some unseen road.

And none of them were Kess.

They were trying to stop somebody, and the girlies were going to need some help.

Luke turned to Artoo and handed the droid the precious commlink. "Get this to the Command Center and have Leia get her eyes on that signal."

Artoo beeped acknowledgment, took the link in one of his many arms, and sucked it back into his body. Artoo burned a three-wheeled rubber down the sidewalk.

Luke skipped to a run to his speeder, hopped in, and roared out of the parking lot.

* * *

Joanne aimed her blaster as she snuck around the corner, searching for those last two technicians trying to take the generator down. In the dark of midnight, she lost them in the trees.

Rett didn't look behind him to see what was going on. His smile faded into tense hatred by now, trying to disarm Kess but not making any progress.

Rett jabbed the lightsaber once, again and, after a pause, a third time.

Kess saw Joanne out of the corner of her eye, sneaking around the generator, looking for the last two men, and she knew it was time to end this. With the Force accenting her strength, she pulled back and brought her blade into his with a powering blow, knocking it halfway to the side.

Rett jumped back and fearfully decided to take the hilt with both hands. But Kess came at him again, moving him back toward the cliff, knocking the lightsaber farther out of his grip.

"Shori!" Cried out a fearful voice. There was a scramble in the far bushes and a blast shot pierced the air.

For the first time since it had started, Rett looked behind him and realized in a flash of horror that his entire troop was already eliminated. Kess took the opportunity and slashed down at the red blade. The thing spun away, blade over hilt, and sizzled into the nearby foliage as it went out.

Kess lunged to him, pointing her amber blade at his neck with rebellious eyes.

Rett opened his palms to the air.

From deep in the trees, Joanne saw that Kess had him and listened intently for any other footfalls. She cursed under her breath, wondering where that last guy was. She decided that, since no one knew where she was either, it would probably be best if she stayed hiding until the last Imperial revealed himself.

* * *

The night jungle ticked peacefully until a speeder with a frantic driver burst through the overgrown bushes and Yana's speeder tore down the road behind it. She drove with gritting teeth, trying to dodge low hanging branches and climb over rocks that littered the road.

Kayla leaned half her body out of the window, firing rapidly at the other vehicle until it was blackened with shots and her blaster ran out of power. She sunk back into the seat, ripping the charger from the handle. "Dang it!"

Yana yanked around an overgrown bush, "It's not touching him anyway."

Kayla scrambled in the back seat for another charger. "We've got to stop him somehow."

The speeder missed a turn to the left and plunged into the bushes ahead. It slowed the pace, but he kept racing as fast as the speeder would carve through the foliage. Yana managed to catch up a little, "He's acting like he's just running scared."

Kayla turned back around, holding onto the dashboard as the speeder rocked. "We're out of chargers." They hit a bump and her head went into the roof. " _Ram_ that bishwag!"

Yana downshifted and lobbed the speeder over bushes and around trees, trying to catch up.

His speeder roared away again and they came out on another road, fishtailing when the airpower tried to get a grip on the dirt.

After she got control of the vehicle again, she jabbed the accelerator to full speed and began to close the gap between her and the other rear bumper. Right before they got close enough to hit him, another turn appeared ahead of them.

He missed this one as well, but when he plunged through the bushes this time, there was only air in front of him.

Kayla went wide-eyed at the sight of the speeder in mid air and Yana slammed on the brakes, but her speeder skidded off the cliff right behind the other guy. The roaring engines quieted. One speeder sailed after the other into the midnight air. Kayla grabbed the door with one hand and the emergency brake with the other. Yana gripped the steering column in a voiceless scream.

Their entire rebellious lives flashed before their eyes.

They saw it all in slow motion. The other speeder started to lose its altitude and they followed him only metre behind. The freefall made their stomachs sink. The wind whistled into the open windows. The other speeder crashed into the treetops, but now he was several metres below them. It seemed that they were slowing down, and Kayla wished it were true. The other speeder fell into the canopy and burst into flames when it hit the rocks below. Kayla could feel the heat of the explosion on her face and shut her eyes.

Yana's speeder slowed in the air and came to a complete stop above the canopy.

Then it moved sideways at a sluggish pace and lowered into a wide crack in the jungle.

Realizing that they should have crashed by now, Kayla and Yana both opened their eyes again, still frozen in speechless terror to find themselves lowering gently to a road on the jungle floor.

Then they saw Luke Skywalker's pretty little sports speeder parked in the road in front of them.

Kayla grabbed her heart to get it beating again.

Yana still gripped the steering wheel as if the planet were about to fall out from beneath her.

The Jedi Knight jumped out of his speeder and went to them, leaning into Kayla's window. "Are you guys all right?"

Kayla breathed one more time. Other than that, neither one of them could move.

Luke hit the door with his hand to send a loud bang throughout the speeder. "Kayla! Yana! Wake up!"

Slowly, stiffly, Yana turned to look at the crashed speeder, not a quarter klick away, now engulfed in flames.

Kayla turned her head to Luke and mouthed the words that she couldn't breathe enough to speak, "Thank you."

Luke pulled open the speeder door, and pulled Kayla to get out, "C'mon!"


	28. LL3 28 Kidnapped

** LL3       28        Kidnapped **

Kess faced Rett down while she waited for Joanne to weed out the last guy.

Rett still had his hands in the air, but he grinned. "You're never going to make it, Kess."

She tightened her grip on the hilt, and adjusted her aim at his neck, "Maybe you haven't noticed that you're losing?"

Rett licked his lower lip thoughtfully and smiled wider. "You're right, I guess I haven't noticed."

 _Click_.               

**_CrackBOOM!_ **

The shield generator splintered into a thousand tiny pieces chased by a furious fire. The blast knocked Kess hard on her side, her lightsaber went out.

When Rett heard the click, he quickly sat down and rolled onto his stomach. The blast wave barely skidded over him. The shredded metal of the generator showered the dusty ground and surrounding trees. Kess looked quickly in horror at the calming fire, searching for clues on Joanne's position. Last time she had spotted the woman, she was hiding in the shrubs right next to the generator's base.

"Joanne!"

As Kess searched for Joanne in a panic, the last of the troopers stepped out of the bushes behind her and raised a long blast gun to the back of her head.

Kess sensed it. She turned around just in time to see the stun rifle. Blue electricity sizzled over her and the midnight howls of the jungle went silent.

* * *

The noise of the explosion echoed across the valley. Kayla and Yana looked out from Luke's speeder at the fire at the top of the ridge. Luke couldn't look. He raced down the road faster than the other two had fallen off the cliff. He yelled with a growl, "What happened?"

Yana tried to pull away the ponytail that whipped in her face without losing her grip on the handrails, "They blew up the shield generator link."

Kayla spun around after seeing the fire, but looked frightened out to the road in front of them. She whispered voicelessly, "Pleasedon'tdrivesofast."

Luke charged around a well-known corner and sped up more. "Did they take Kess yet?"

"Not last we saw her." Yana's eyes were staring just as fearful at the road but manage to keep a grip on herself. Luke was taking the corners like a pro. "I like your speeder better."

Kayla nodded in passionate agreement, "Ilikeyourspeederbettertoopleasedon'tdrivesofast _."_

Luke ignored them. They'd get over their near-death experience in soon enough on their own. He gritted his teeth at the thought of the shield generator now gone and thought about the confrontation that Kess and Joanne must have lost.

The dirt road became pavement and he swung onto a well-traveled road. Thank the Force it was two o'clock in the morning for there was no one in his way. He tore through the quiet city until they sped into the quad, zooming passed Complex A, but slowed down to stop in front of the complex next door.

"Get to the _Falcon_ and help Chewie start her up," he ordered Kayla.

Kayla blinked at him and quickly jumped out, running full speed into the gaping mouth of the building.

The speeder roared back down the street toward the Council Building, and Yana grabbed hold of the chair with both hands to keep from falling out. Luke wasn't as calm as he usually was, and the Jedi Knight not having a peaceful center about the whole thing terrified her. "Tell me we're gonna make it out of this."

Luke yanked on the brakes in front of the Council Building. "We're gonna make it out of this." He jumped out. Yana scrambled to get out and ran after him.

* * *

Deep in the forest, where the lush green foliage was crackling with fire and heavy shards of metal stabbed deep into the trunks of trees, Joanne blinked awake and rolled her body over. Her back crunched onto vines and generator pieces. She gasped to try to breathe and fumbled for her blaster. Her clothes were charred black on one the side. She deliberately breathed into the night air, knowing she was in shock. She listened to the nearby fire and mentally assessed the painful damage on her body without looking at it.

Joanne cursed herself for not finding the charge when she snuck around the generator, and thanked her lucky stars she had coincidentally moved to the lee side of a tree trunk before the thing blew.

She heard voices and looked up. Still metres from the actual parking lot, and now clothes darkened from the blast camouflaging with her skin, she felt confident enough to pull herself to her knees and crawl close enough to see what was going on.

Rett had Kess' limp body hanging over his shoulder. The other man picked up her lightsaber and handed it to the first. Rett waddled to the final speeder and dumped Kess' limp body across the back seat.

On her belly, Joanne set her elbows in the ground and propped her blaster in her hands. She aimed with one eye at the trooper she had been looking for. "There you are." With one, sniper-like shot, she struck the man square in the chest.

Rett heard the shot and saw the man go down. His eyes went to the jungle, but he saw nothing but half-burning trees. In an instant, he dove into the speeder and tried to start it up.

Joanne dropped the weapon and watched as the speeder charge up, then die, then charge up again and grind to life. He spun around in the parking lot in a panic and sped away to the same escape road as the first. The roar of the engine faded away.

Joanne used a tree to help her stand, huddling an arm to her waist. She could hear the sirens of shore patrol rushing to the scene and stumbled painfully out to the parking lot.

Shards of metal, dead bodies, and severed hands littered the ground, but she didn't care. Joanne walked towards the mouth of the road, the shock wearing off and the heat of her burns finally registering in her brain. She stopped just as the speeders of shore patrol came up the cliff and shined their headlights straight at her.

Joanne dropped to her knees and fell into the mud.

* * *

Admiral Ackbar's sea-green robes flowed like water in his wake. His salmon skin was sweating into the silken fabric as he rushed to the other side of the bunker. Madine, Lando, and Han were already at the holomap, but they all stopped short when the door slid open and Luke rushed in.

Luke huffed to calm himself and shoved his body sideways between their shoulders to stare at the map. Yana trotted around to the other side where she found a space she could slide in and watch.

The lower half of the map was solid with the curve of the jungle moon's surface. The base lit up with yellow cubes of buildings, surrounded by a blurry, brown and green ripple to illustrate the uninhabited surface. Far off to the west was a red line growing slowly in length away from the base.

Luke put his hands on his hips and watched it.

Threepio stepped up to Admiral, "The control room reports that they are having some trouble redirecting the shield power to a new generator link." The Admiral bowed his head for a sigh and opened his mouth but glanced at the map just as the line stopped.

Yana was already at the map controls. "They are point four kilometres outside our shield rim, sir. Zooming into one-kilometre range."

Lando held his breath and watched the line grow jagged until the whole scene exploded to one-kilometre range. The smooth surface on the map didn't match the actual terrain, but the now obvious zigzagging told them the drive had come to an end. Within a few seconds, the line stopped again. After one long, breathless, deathly-silent pause, it started to rise off the ground.

Luke hastily stepped around the map base, "Zoom out!"

Yana was already typing. The scene zoomed out and the line slicked upward with the speed of a ship bursting through ozone before stopping cold when the ship hit hyperspace. Luke's eyes narrowed at the alternate map. "They're not going to the battle groups."

Han blinked. He was right. The line's direction, after it had already hit hyperspace, was not going anywhere near the three battle groups the Alliance had their eyes on.

Luke spun around to Yana with the order, "I want every possible destination—

But Yana had already stepped to the vectorcalc and was reading the results out loud before he was done saying it. "Two light-years from the Mandalore System." A short pause as it calculated a farther distance, "Seven light-years from Caamas." She paused and watched the text. Luke was already shaking his head at the lack of reasoning why any spy would take Kess to those places.

Madine stepped back to the holomap and returned it to its settings before they started following the signal. Admiral Ackbar turned to give Threepio his order.

Luke felt Yana's heart grow cold and his throat went dry. He narrowed his eyes at her, the woman staring into the tiny viewport until the whisper escaped her lips. "They're heading straight for Byss." She looked at him with a desperate hope that there was something he could do to stop it.

Admiral Ackbar muttered quietly to Madine, who was now watching Luke from the sidelines. Madine scratched his beard as he turned away, thinking it loud enough that Luke could almost hear the words.

_We've lost her._

Luke's eyes went to the ground, and then closed entirely for a moment of desperate meditation.


	29. LL3 29 Shori Ka

** LL3       29        Shori Ka **

"Father, this is Shori Ka. Do you read?" Rett stared out at the wavering stars as if he could detect a glimpse of the Imperials if he passed them in hyperspace, checked the transmitter to make sure he was using the right code for the channel, and brought the mike to his mouth again, "Father, this is Shori Ka, the sky is blue. I repeat. The sky is blue. Do you read?"

A crackle sounded before the monotone voice did. "Shori Ka, we read you. Hold."

Rett let out a stiff sigh through his nose and dropped the mike to his lap. He glanced over at Kess as he waited. The woman's head hung like her neck was broken. He had her strapped in tightly in the five point harness of the copilot's seat, tied her hands behind the high back of the chair, and had her ankles not only tied together, but also secured to the chair's base on the floor. He had no idea what kind of tricks she could pull to get out of her bindings if she awoke, but he figured the more he tied her up, the more time he had to knock her out again.

The next voice that came through was older, angrier, and chillingly evil, "Shori Ka, this is Father, state your condition."

Rett looked out at the stars as he spoke, "Father, the sky is blue. Request to unload and be on my way." He was eager to get to that last part.

"Is she alive?"

"Yeah, she's alive. Got her with a stun gun." Rett glanced over again. "And I'm anxious to get rid of her before she wakes up."

"Proceed directly to Coruscant and deliver the Usak to—

"I'll never make it to Coruscant," Rett interrupted. "She won't be out for much longer. I can't hold a Jedi." He paused a second, lowering his tone, "If you want her alive, you get her _now_."

There was a long pause of apprehension, "Did you scan your vessel for homing devices?"

Rett's grin faded, "Yes, sir." It was too late to turn back. He already had her. He would either get his bounty now or not at all. Either way, he was on his way home as long as he could make the trade. He really didn't care about the Imperials drastic precautions. He didn't even care who won. He would be long gone before the battle started.

"Very well. Proceed to 2.46 by .75 from Yavin 19. We will give you new coordinates from that point. Out."

Rett inhaled to ask about that bounty before the man switched off the link, but let out a sigh as the buzz of white noise flowed out into the air.

* * *

The woolen, milk-colored cloak barely warmed Leia's shoulders at nearly four in the morning. The stillness of pre-dawn and pre-battle chilled her to the bone all the way into the bunker. Half the council was there with a full crew at work at the terminals. She squinted into the dim light to make out faces and stepped up to the holomap.

"Lendra was taken about an hour ago," Admiral Drayson reported. "Her signal leads straight to Byss in the Core Worlds."

"The Core Worlds?" Leia replied. "Not the battle groups?"

Ackbar's voice went deeply pessimistic. "Those aren't the battle groups that are going to attack, Minister." He gestured to the pinpoints and figures. "Last week, I sent out reconnaissance from the nearby systems for a visual confirmation. We just received their findings." Admiral Ackbar's mouth frowned more that it already was. "There's no one out there."

"The satellites still give us readings of three battle groups." Madine's gray eyes filled with frustration and wrath as he stepped up again. "I'd sure like to know how they altered them to do that."

Leia closed her eyes with a silent swear and yanked them open again. _"Where are they?"_

Sikey punched a button on the map, watched, and punched a few more. She gestured yellowed claws at the map. "They could be anywhere."

Yana sat at the freq reader, already switched to the setting that would read and calculate Kess' lightsaber pulse. She kept her eyes on it, pretending not to overhear the worry in their voices. Every new piece of information seemed to be worse than the one before. Staring at the flat line on the freq reader, Yana's anxiety grew as the seconds passed.

As others arrived, the quiet summary was repeated, "Lendra was taken but is heading to the Core Worlds. The visual confirmation on those three battle groups came up negative. We have no other satellite data leading us to their present locations. The orbital shield is still down but shore patrol reports we have eliminated seven more spies on Yavin Base."

The bunker crew combed through data source after data source, trying to scrounge any clues about where the Imperials were, or more importantly, how far away. When the influx of council members had finally calmed, Leia gave a few orders to a few members of the crew, and stepped aside during the time it would take them to follow it.

Eventually, she gingerly stepped to a darker corner of the bunker, and met Luke's tired eyes.

He was in his Jedi Uniform with his black cloak around his shoulders. His arms folded at his chest as his back rested casually against a mainframe. The whites of his eyes seemed to glow out of the ominous shadow of the corner. Leia detected a coldness from him that she was no longer used to. The expressionless face was all too familiar, but now seemed out of character. Leia let out a sigh of a mother's worry. He pulled his fist up from the robes and handed her something.

Leia took it and looked at it. It was a normal commlink. She glanced up at him.

His whisper was rough. "I hate being the one waiting for the news."

Leia gave him sympathetic eyes and gazed down at the commlink again. This was the receiving commlink from the original signal, useless now, but it was still on.

And it was still recording.

Leia jerked it closer. "This is recording."

Luke blinked, then stepped up and took it back. "Yana, you didn't tell me your commlink was recording."

Yana glanced over, "I didn't know."

Luke stepped to the console next to where Yana sat and removed the tiny cartridge from the commlink. He reached to slap it into the drive.

Yana raised a hand. "Uh. Don't."

Leia and Luke both looked at her. "Why not?"

"There may be a clue of the Imperials whereabouts," Leia said.

Yana pulled her hand back and focused on Luke. "Sir, I strongly recommend you listen to it in privacy."

Leia raised a brow. Luke pulled the cartridge out of the drive and ordered Artoo into the conference room. Leia was right behind him when she shut the door.

After he plugged the thing into Artoo, he stood tall at his sister's intrusion.

Leia faced him back, "I'm going to hear about it sooner or later anyway."

 _Stubborn_ , Luke thought, and motioned for Artoo to play the recording.

They heard the noise of a speeder purring on and the conversation as the women drove up to Toban Ridge.

Leia slowly sat down in a chair. Luke stood behind her, staring at the wall as he listened.

The four women argued as they formulated a plan and debated on Rett's intentions, but long before they got to Toban Ridge, Kess' voice called out above the other noise and told them to shut up. She told each of them exactly what they were going to do and left it at that. Nobody argued and the rest of the trip up the mountain continued in silence.

The speeder came to stop and the women climbed out, talking again. Kess sounded like she walked away and told someone to go home.

Leia silently thanked the woman for getting the innocent out of harm's way. Luke mentally patted Kess on the back when she insisted to Kayla that she didn't kill Rett.

The voices went silent again and they seemed to be waiting. Then they heard Kayla's voice. "Kess?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll make you a deal."

"What?"

"I promise I won't shoot that bishwag if you would just tell me what the hell is going on between you and Luke."

Luke shoved his tongue in his molar and huffed at the floor.

"We may not live through this, girly girl. We have a right to know what we're fighting for!"

"All right already! He kissed me. But nothing more. Is that what you want to hear?"

Luke scrunched his eyes shut. Leia set her elbows on the table and tried to pretend she wasn't watching his reaction.

"What made you _stop_?"

Yana's voice was significantly different than the other two. "Seriously?"

"Kayla, if I start this on sex all it will ever _be_ is _sex_." Kess admitted it in a whisper, "I love him more than that."

Leia smiled warmly at Luke.

Luke closed his eyes.

"You want more out of men than that too."

Luke grinned and fought the urge to whisper aloud. _That's my girl._

Kess' voice grew strong again. "I can't tell you everything, Kayla, but _I promise_ I will make you proud."

"I'm going to hold you to it, girly girl."

A pact was sealed.

A moment later, Kess muttered sincerely. "I can't thank you guys enough for this."

They couldn't tell which girly girl responded in true rebel fashion, "Thank us when you come back."

When the silence fell again, they could hear another speeder approaching in the recording. Luke sobered and sat down in a chair at the end of the table to pay closer attention.

"Shoe's on the other side of your mouth?" Rett's voice said.

Han walked in the door. Leia motioned him to shut the door behind him.

Kess' voice sounded from Artoo's speaker. "What do you expect me to say?"

Han leaned against the wall and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You knew," Rett commented. "So why are you here?" Rett asked and then his voice changed, "Alert Father his plan has been foiled. The Rebels know they're coming."

The **_SNAP-VROOM_** sizzled through the conference room. There was a scream and then the shooting started. Luke, Leia, and Han listened to the yelling, to the lightsaber duel. They heard Yana and Kayla take off after the other speeder. They heard the shield generator explode and the stun gun fire.

Artoo turned up the volume when the noises quieted to sound like the inside of a racing speeder. Shuffles and grunts, slides and static, then the air enclosed and they heard the whir of a different vehicle. Muffled engines roared and, slowly, the audio faded to static.

Then, hyperspace wound up and— silence.

There was not a single clue where Rett was going.

Leia glanced over at Luke. He propped his forehead into his loosened fists and let his face fall expressionless. In complete silence, Leia stood up and ushered Artoo to leave the room. As she passed her husband, Han pulled his shoulder off the wall. He gave Luke sympathetic glance and stepped out, shutting the door behind him so the Jedi could meditate in privacy.


	30. LL3 30 Imperial Territory

** LL3       30        Imperial Territory **

Kess could hear the hum of hyperspace before she opened her eyes. The cockpit glowed with emergency yellow flood lamps. Her head pounded with pain. The man at the helm turned to her before she blinked completely awake.

Rett's mouth drew to a thin line. He quickly reached for the stun gun and pointed it at her face.

"Wait!" Kess tried to duck, but her body was stuck to the co-pilot's seat like she had been captured by a giant spider web. As soon as she realized it, she chose not to fight the bindings, "I'm not going to try anything!" she yelled at him. "Just tell me where you're taking me!" She figured if she could get him talking, about anything, it might give her the chance to find out where they were going and how long they had already been gone.

Rett's mouth went crooked with cynicism and disbelief. He aimed the stun gun.

"I have a right to know, Rett!"

"Maybe," he agreed, "but I don't have the right to tell you." He aimed it at her face and fired.

The ship shuddered violently and the stun blast went down, skimming her bound legs. Kess cried out at the painful numbing of her feet and calves. Rett ignored her and raised the weapon to the air. He put a flat foot out on the grated floor and looked at the controls, trying to figure out what was going on.

The ship continued to shake like a heavy earthquake. When Kess noticed him confused, she groaned at him, "It's a tractor beam, you idiot."

Angry eyes sliced through her.

"Guess we're already here." Kess turned her eyes out the window to find any clue on their whereabouts. She focused on several white slivers far off in the sky.

Rett adjusted the stun gun in his grip as he climbed out of his chair. He shut down the transport with his free hand.

She counted four large slivers that were probably Star Destroyers, but she couldn't make out the difference between the surrounding dots of support ships against the stars in the backdrop. "I'm compelled to ask—

"I'm doing this for the money," he interrupted. "That's all." Rett kept the stun gun in his hand, just in case, and started to close down the ship's systems to relinquish control to their captors.

"I'm not talking about me," she looked over at him. "I'm talking about Kayla."

Rett glanced over and shrugged as he turned his attention away again. "She was a fortunate assignment." He shrugged again, shaking his head at Kess. "That's all she wanted to be. So I don't know what difference it makes."

Kess squinted at the air and nodded. She closed her eyes for a quick meditation check. Though acutely alert and a little scared, she was okay. She sensed out beyond this second-rate transport ship to find an overwhelming sense of human presence nearby.

Kess squinted harder through the window. That battle group she saw was still awfully far away. It didn't make sense—

Until the edges of a docking bay lowered into view of the window and Imperial Territory slowly consumed them. The battle group she focused on before was an entirely different collection from this one they were landing in.

Kess watched. Docking crews moved about the deck and stormtroopers ran out of a corridor, aiming their guns at the tiny ship while it was still landing. Rett didn't wait for the metal to hit the ground before he ripped off his straps. He kept his aim at her ear with one hand and released her feet with the other. Kess listened to the hollow thump as the ship landed.

She cooperated all the way; too busy making mental notes to want to fight now. She was trying to decide if that other battle group meant that the Imperials had already rendezvoused, trying to sense if this Star Destroyer was in a battle group of its own, and wondering where her lightsaber was. When he finished releasing her, he yanked her out of the chair. He slapped the bindings on her wrists again before she had the chance to catch her balance.

Kess collected her patience, found her peace, and shut off every emotion she had so that she could perform properly. Rett pushed her around and gouged the gunpoint into her shoulder blade. Kess moved obediently to every one of his cues.

The ramp slowly lowered in front of her. She walked forward when ordered, but she only took two steps when he slammed the butt of the rifle into her back and sent her diving head first down the ramp. Her arms twisted to try and catch her fall, but her shoulder slammed against the ramp, the grating dug into her skin through her shirt. She rolled as best she could until she reached the bottom, and huddled on her knees, wincing in pain until she looked up.

Two rings of stormtroopers encircled her with more than twenty blasters, all pointed straight at her head. She let out a careful breath and gathered her wits.

_This was your idea, Kesselia, no bitching about it now._

"She's alive." Rett stepped up behind her, "I'll have my bounty and go."

Kess looked out through the crowd to whom he was talking.

An Imperial Admiral with a lightsaber and a smile marched over with armed escorts. "You will get your bounty in due time."

His escorts were uniformed in black armor from head to toe and looked like a cross between a really complicated stormtrooper and a plain Darth Vader. They started moving toward her, ready to take over control of the prisoner.

Rett threw the stun gun to the ground the same time he pulled out a sleek blaster from the back of his pants and pointed that at her eyeball instead. "I'll have my bounty _now_."

The Admiral stared the man down. The little Vader's stopped short and eyed Rett, waiting for new orders.

Kess peeked around to assess this. She couldn't find her lightsaber. There was nothing she could do.

Rett straightened his shoulders and tightened his mouth with resolve.

The Admiral gestured to his aid, "Get him his money."

Kess' eyes flicked from one to the other, to the white troopers, the black troopers, and the gray-clad ground crew standing by with scanning equipment. She easily sensed that Rett was scared out of his mind and this Admiral was in no mood for games.

The Admiral squared his shoulders at Rett, clasping his hands behind his back, hazel eyes burrowed into the insubordinate spy.

Rett just stared back. They waited for the delivery of his loot for a full breathless minute.

The Force started to prickle in her senses. She watched Cheenan in silence. The man didn't even blink when it happened.

The blaster sucked out of Rett's hands through the air. His eyes went wide as he watched it fly away in from of him.

 _ZAPT_! A blast shot echoed through the giant docking bay, but Kess was the only one that jumped.

Kess looked around in alarm. Simultaneously, one aide caught Rett's blaster out of the air, another storm trooper lowered his own, and Rett crumbled to the deck in front of her knees in a mass of burnt flesh.

Those sapphire eyes stared at nothing and faded to crystal white when the oxygen escaped his body for the last time. His mouth no longer spread in a lady-killer smile. Rett D'monck lay in front of her in a heap, dead as a doornail, and Kess couldn't help a mental whiplash in her friend's defense. _You were a fortunate assignment, Rett, and that's all you ever wanted to be._

As the troopers grabbed Rett's forearms and began to drag the body away, Kess turned her attentions back to the matter at hand. Still on her knees, Kess looked toward the approaching gray shoes.

Now, with nothing in his way, Admiral Cheenan strolled to her and smiled haughtily down. "Welcome home, dear."


	31. LL3 31 She's Gonna Be Fine

** LL3       31        She's Gonna Be Fine **

The small crowd in the bunker had hushed to a tense patience. Although they alerted all key personnel, they ordered many to stay home and get some sleep. The validity of the two-day window had dissolved, but now they had no idea how long it would take. Two hours? Two weeks? They agreed to take this wait in shifts.

Chief Commander Mothma muttered with Admiral Ackbar at the holomap. Leia flipped through data at a terminal, searching old records for new clues. Yana sat in wide-eyed, terrified concentration at the freq reader. A dozen others worked in a worried silence.

Luke straddled a terminal chair, propping his elbows on the backrest, resting his tense mouth against his clasped fists. Eyes stared at nothing in particular on the holomap. A mass of data blipped in an array of primary colors, little red pyramids, blue squares, orange dots, the green and brown ripple of the planet's surface, tiny yellow buildings, and a single red line streaking up into the night sky.

To nowhere.

They stunned her. He heard it in the recording. He hoped that they wouldn't keep stunning her or drug her to sleep. She wouldn't be able to send the signal. Luke forced himself to take a breath and dropped his temple to a fist.

Han stepped to Yana and told her quietly that medbay reported in. Joanne was in bad shape. They didn't know yet if she was going to make it, but Han assigned a Two-One-Bee to comm the moment the woman was out of surgery. He promised to keep Yana informed.

Without pulling her eyes from the reader, she nodded thank you to the Captain. Han patted the woman's shoulder and stepped around her. Seeing Luke in the dark corner, he stepped over.

"Hey kid," Han muttered supportively, sitting down in the chair next to him.

Luke raised his chin, dropping his fist, but didn't pull his eyes from the holomap. "Hey."

After watching Luke in silence for a moment, Han uncomfortably looked at his hands, trying to think of what one would say to console a person in a case like this. A dozen thoughts crossed his mind, but none of them would sound sincere coming from Han Solo. He rubbed his lips together, finally smiled a cockeyed grin, "Y'know, if don't graduate her, after all _this_ , you're just being mean."

Luke's annoyance melted, appreciative of Han's attempt, even if it wasn't helping. He looked back at the holomap and continued staring at the little red line.

"Of course," Han angled his head in thought the other way. "It would be meaner to _you_ than it would to _her_."

Luke's dropped his eyelids, trying to stop the man with a tone, "Han—

Han griped, "Boy, I couldn't stand her when we first met her. Cocky landlubber. Thought she knew more about my ship than I did. Had a mouth on her too. Remember? That is, when she wasn't shaking in her boots to realize how in over her head she was."

Luke stretched his mouth and angled his eyebrow, unsure where the man was going with this.

"Then she turns to sorcery junk and suddenly thinks she can take on the whole Empire single-handedly?" Han shook his head at the holomap. "No plan for getting out? What kind of bantha fodder is that?"

Luke closed his eyes and chuckled silently at his lap.

Han turned back to the kid and motioned at him, with all seriousness. "If she's in stormtrooper armor when we pick her up, you owe me twenty credits."

Luke chuckled in spite of himself, finally breathing for the first time in hours.

Still lounging back in the chair in front of the man, Han grinned over. "She's gonna be fine, Luke."

Luke nodded, collecting himself, "I appreciate your words—

Han stopped him with a gesture. " _I_ saw her get us out of Frakkan."

Luke's attitude shifted.

"Trust me, kid." Han patted his shoulder and met the man's gaze as he got up. "She's gonna be fine."


	32. LL3 32 Wrists

** L3       32        Wrists **

Determined, Kess licked her teeth and tried to stand.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She was halfway to her feet when he said it, but he didn't move to stop her, so Kess rose to her full height and looked the Imperial Admiral in the eye. "No one's told me yet."

This Admiral was puffed with arrogance and euphorically happy that he'd caught his prey. He looked her up and down, his head angled with interest, and his grin spread wide across his face to look her in the eyes. "Oh, you're going to be fun."

Kess said nothing. She took the stare down with the Admiral, feeling less in danger than before, and ignored the escorts now moving closer. She kept her ears open just in case she'd overhear a clue from some working grunt. She had no idea how long she was out cold in Rett's transport and, therefore, had no idea how long she had to fight to stay alive until the Alliance could save her.

Teams worked behind her more than in front of her and she tried to ignore them. Kess worked to remain apathetic about whether or not she'd make it out of this as long as she sent the signal. She kept the Admiral's gaze, but her mind searched her surroundings for her lightsaber.

_There is no death, there is the Force._

"We've detected a signal, Admiral," one of the crew reported. With only a nod from the Admiral, four pairs of hands began to groping her body, pulling every piece of lint from her pockets. Her commlink came out into a black-gloved hand.

"It's still on," the technician said, "But it couldn't have more than a 10 gigametre range."

Kess died inside. If they were still talking in gigametres, they were already in the Yavin System. Since the commlink still had battery power, they couldn't have been more than 20 hours away. They were close, closer than any two and half days distance, which meant the Alliance had no clue where these battle groups were.

It was a good thing she came.

Hands clipped the binders away from her wrists. She opened her eyes and pulled her hands around to rub her wrists with relief.

The Admiral faced her, less than a metre in front of her, while the technicians scanned for more signals. She lowered her eyes and folded her hands together in front of her, acting impatient with the scanning crew.

"We _will_ find the other one," the Admiral assured her.

Kess' eyes flicked up.

A trooper came to her front and clasped a new set of binders on her wrists, Imperial binders this time, tough metal, thick frames, the palm of one hand fixed to the back of the other with no room to twist around. Something they were doing pinched her wrist for a moment. She reminded herself to ignore it and refused to look down.

Kess stared into his eyes and cooperated, but her confidence sank at the Admiral's words.

"Master Kadaan wants you conscious for this, so you'll be awake to enjoy it, but I assure you, I am perfectly capable of containing you."

Kess raised an eyebrow at him, but when he stepped back to let through a man wearing a welding mask, her stomach started to sink.

She heard the firing of a small blowtorch _Kazap_! and then the whistling as it was calibrated for a thin, blue flame.

She brought in a deep breath to calm fears. Two troopers grabbed her elbows and held her arms out in front of her. The welding torch aimed for her binders. She closed her eyes.

 _Kazap_!

They melted the lock on her binders without a care for her nearby wrists. Her flesh burned black and sizzled. The pain shot all the way to her shoulders.

 _Kazap_!

Kess' deep breath came out in a blood-curdling scream.

* * *

Luke heard the scream as clearly as if she was standing right next to him. He gasped at the blinding pain that hit him through the Force.

His sudden jolt snagged the attention of everyone around him. Mothma's murmur went silent and Ackbar turned to look at him with concern.

Luke blinked and rubbed his wrists. They didn't hurt physically, but the split second of searing heat and searing fear gave him enough information to figure out what happened. For a moment, he grew wrathful that they had hurt her, but the anger faded quickly as he realized how well he could sense it.

Luke's eyes widened.

Leia stepped up alarmed, having faintly felt the sensation herself. "What was that?"

Luke shook the shiver from his shoulders as he stood up. "They burned her wrists."

Mothma stepped slowly over as well, watching Luke carefully.

Luke stared into the air. "She was close." He concentrated stiffly on the facts and tried to ignore the emotion. "A lot closer than two days away."

Han pointed out the obvious. "She only left five hours ago."

Luke spine shivered at the afterimage of her pain and shut his eyes tight, "She wasn't in hyperspace or I wouldn't have felt it at all." His eyes opened and he focused on Leia. "She's already there."

"How far?" Admiral Ackbar croaked.

Luke took in a deep sigh to calm himself and let it out through an open mouth. "I couldn't tell," he glanced at the chrono, "but less than 5.02 hours minus the 33 minutes of driving time to the launch point."

Sikey was already calculating attack patterns in his mind. Leia looked at Mothma and, having met her eyes for a moment, Mothma looked at Admiral Ackbar. His giant lower lip stiffened and the fishy smell of Calamarian stress drifted into the air.

All at once, the council members started moving. Han grabbed a blaster and holstered it, Lando swung the cape around his shoulders, and Luke pulled the cloak's hood over his head. The three marched out of the Command Center as tense orders began to fly.

Leia spun around to the Ensign, "Launch the standby groups now."

Ackbar ordered another admin, "Send the alert code to the Fiddanl fleet. Bring around our cruisers to a defensive position."

Mothma didn't mutter a word. She turned evenly to a wall console and laid an open palm on the giant, orange-lighted button that said: **GQ**.

Dawn just started to glow light blue on the horizon, but the rest of the sky was still pitch black with night. The disturbing stillness was shattered when the white street lamps flashed orange and the air raid alarm pierced the silence.

**_BZZT BLAAH! BZZT BLAAH!_ **

Streetlights and floodlights shined orange with each **_BZZT_** and switched to a blood red with every **_BLAAH_**. The spine-shuddering tone and ear-piercing volume could have woken a wampa out of hibernation. In the realization of war, the Rebel fleet pounced into action.

Shorkey blinked awake and patted his wife's shoulder to calm her down. Ashten jumped out of bed and into the first pair of coveralls she found. Neilson hopped to his front door while still trying to tie his bootlace. Geoff and his girlfriend scrambled in the darkness, trying to figure out whose clothes were whose.

**_BZZT BLAAH! BZZT BLAAH!_ **

Seidrik ran down the street while still buttoning up a jumpsuit over his pajamas. Faster bodies dodged him and raced between the small buildings to get to the looming pad Complexes. Wedge pulled his speeder up to the sidewalk to offer rides to anyone that happened to be there. Bodies filled the empty seats and he roared away to their duty stations. The masses thickened as more people tore out of the barracks. Lights were left on, doors left open. Speeders were left in the parking lot for those already too close to their battle station to worry about the traffic. And what traffic came from off-base zipped quickly around the complexes and on to the gorgeous green field between them as an emergency parking lot.

**_BZZT BLAAH! BZZT BLAAH!_ **

The shops and diners and offices in the pad cores were empty and dark, but the travel ways and pads were lit like it was in the middle of the workday. Here, they could hear the pre-recorded announcement on the speakers **. General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations!**

Repair grunts yanked refueling ports to the craft and pilots raced half-dressed into the locker rooms. R2 units were loaded, runners sped through the hurried masses, and Commanders shouted out orders to their crew.

**_BZZT BLAAH! BZZT BLAAH!_ General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations!**

Luke took no notice of Rogue Group's panicked activities and marched directly to the _Falcon_ with Lando and Han at his heels. He'd already told Wedge where he would be on this one, and Wedge took it in stride. There was no need to explain it to anyone else right now. Luke didn't look to see who was climbing into Rogue Five, he would hear all about it from Artoo later. Luke stiffly pounded up the _Falcon's_ ramp without so much as a glance in their direction.

Han passed him in the cargo bay as the Jedi ripped off his cloak and threw it on the game table. Lando paused to pull off his cape, awaiting the captain's orders and trying to ignore the tension. Chewie was already griping his growls out to Han with grease in his fur and a tool in his hand.

"Calm down, will you?" Han whined at Chewie, "She'll only be on this trip and then she's gone. Okay?"

Kayla stormed out of the cockpit with her own grease, tools, and full attitude. "So I guess you _want_ your ship to fall apart at the seams?"

Han's eyes narrowed at her. "Now, don't you start."

Kayla dropped the hydrospanner on the floor just to make a loud, rattling statement. She crossed her arms, shifted her weight onto one foot, and set her shoulders at him. "We are never gonna make it in this bucket if you don't let me fix the damned thing."

Han stepped forward at her, pointing at himself and thoroughly insulted. "Are you trying to tell me I did a cheesy job modifying my ship?"

Kayla shrugged at him with a grin, "'Cheesy' isn't the word I was thinking of, but since we're in mixed company."

Chewie curled his lips and growled at her again, his brows tightened in annoyance at her.

Kayla curled her lip at Han, "Call off your dog."

Han covered his eyes, "Oh, for crying out loud—

"SILENCE!"

The yell echoed against the bulkheads and all eyes went to Luke, surprised that the traditionally serene and quiet Jedi would shout out over the noise in such impatience. His mouth was stiff and his words were quiet again, "Kess is out there."

Han drew in a breath. The bodies moved as the orders rolled off his tongue. Luke bowed a sarcastically-cocked head at Han and followed him into the cockpit.

**_BZZT BLA—_ **

Everyone in the Control Tower looked at the light when the noises stopped. The Commander pressed the headset to his ear. "All groups have reported in. Alarm is secure. Proceed to launch the fleet, aye." He let go of the headset and rolled out the next set of orders to his own crew. "North launch Gray."

The Lieutenant commanding the north side of the tower typed and mumbled orders into his mike.

"South launch Rogue. West launch Green..."

Traffic controllers spoke into their mikes and started typing as soon as they got the 'go'. Fighters rose into the air in pairs, waited for their flock to muster with them, and in perfect formation, shot vertically into the early morning light.


	33. LL3 33 Supreme Prophet Kadaan

** LL3       33        Supreme Prophet Kadaan **

Kess kept her eyes slammed shut for most of the walk despite her frantic efforts to watch where they were going. Her arms felt like they were still on fire and the raunchy smell of burnt flesh clung to her nostrils. The pain was too dense for her to sense anything else, but she managed to keep her ears open for clues on the pending rendezvous.

The black-armored escorts flanked her every corner and the Admiral strutted behind the entourage into the lift. Silence fell when the doors closed. None of the six people were talking anyway, but now they didn't have the surrounding crewmembers to bother them either.

As the lift pulled them up, Kess took advantage of the silence and relaxed her shoulder muscles. She reached inside and found her peace and reminded herself that she could go home and make love to Luke as soon as the whole thing was over.

A hand slapped her shoulder. "No meditating."

Kess shot an annoyed glare halfway in the Admiral's direction, but raised her chin with fake confidence. In no time, the burning of her wrists flared into her conscience. Terrified, she looked down at the damage. An array of thumbprint-sized blisters spotted the inside of her right forearm. On the back of her left hand were fewer but larger blisters, some as big as her lightsaber's power cell. Those surrounded a long, black-flaking gash on the back of her left wrist.

Kess swallowed hard, leaned over to one of the escorts at her side and asked secretly, "Can I have some ice?"

The Admiral's hand slapped her shoulder again. "No talking."

The doors slid open and she pulled her lips closed.

The escorts pushed her onto the bridge of the Star Destroyer. Kess reviewed the area, calculating any possible escape. There were three doors and an open corridor on each side. A sunken pit of terminals was in the center where the low-ranking bridge crew carried out the Captain's orders. Unless the _Falcon_ landed on the front glass like a giant metal mynock, Kess didn't see any easy way to get out.

The escorts stopped her center rear of the pit and the Admiral peeled off with a series of fast orders to various people. "Prepare the med room." Kess' stomach went nauseous at the thought of true Imperial torture. "Tighten the group formations." But he didn't indicate the number of groups or their formations. As Kess watched him march to a side door in the corner of her eye, he leaned toward a Commander. "Send the rendezvous signal," was his last order before he disappeared.

Kess instantly closed her eyes and her thoughts looked for her lightsaber. The hilt jogged back and forth as the walking Admiral swung his arm in a perfect march through the room. Kess bit her lip and hurried to flip the switch deep inside the handgrip—

A blaster poked her shoulder. "No meditating."

Her eyelids tightened before she opened them again, cussing at failure.

A cloud gray uniform passed her then, hissing the words, "Rebel scum."

A smile flashed across her face and her evilly happy voice sang out, just to distract herself from the burning pain. "Yeah, but we're _winning_!"

All motion on the bridge stopped for a moment.

The guard poked her hard in the kidney with his blaster. "No talking."

Kess zipped her lips like guilty teenager and tried to contain a crazy giggle. Her arms were in so much pain. She was certain insanity was going to set in before she even got to Kadaan because the little humor she could scrounge was the only distraction from the glowing burn.

The Admiral stepped out of the door and motioned the guards to bring her in. Her laughter sobered.

The ready room was as gray as the bridge, polished floor, metal walls, and hard corners. A single man occupied it before they marched in, and when the cloaked figure turned around, Kess got her first look at Supreme Prophet Kadaan.

He looked like a troll. The stocky figure was no taller than she. He had over-large facial features, intense ocean-blue eyes, and bright yellow, thinning hair. His round nose wrinkled as he looked at her, then smiled short teeth as he strolled up to her, evilly pleased.

"You have the color of stubbornness about you," he said in a low voice, like it was trying to sound evil, but his vocal chords wouldn't naturally go that deep. "But I suppose it was your stubbornness that made it so difficult to obtain you." He turned away, strolling slowly back to his perch in front of the giant window. "You are Lieutenant Kess Lendra, Jedi Apprentice. Are you not?"

Kess stood stiff and stared at nothing.

Cheenan punched her in the shoulder blade. "Answer him."

Kess tightened her lips and tried to speak through them, "But you told me not to talk."

Cheenan slapped the back of her head hard enough that a handful of hair flew in front of her eyes.

Kess swallowed her annoyance and straightened her shoulders.

"Stubborn." Kadaan smiled and nodded. "It runs thick in females." He paused in front of the window, gazing out at the stars. "But I can train that out of you. Jedi Skywalker clearly hasn't succeeded."

 _Luke didn't try_ , she defended in her mind.

"But then, there are many things he failed to teach you. Many things he failed to _tell_ you." His cool eyes flicked to her. "Skywalkers are always full of secrets, aren't they?" He turned toward her. "And power hungry. It is in their bloodline."

Kess stood stiff and stared at nothing, but kept her mind on her emotions. She concentrated on the Admiral waiting patiently on the side of the room, trying to trip the signal with her lightsaber still in Cheenan's hand.

Kadaan strolled around her, trying to sound like a mere acquaintance with juicy gossip. "Did he ever tell you why his father turned to the dark side?"

Kess reacted a little to that, but quickly realized it only made sense the Empire would know that Vader was his father.

"Oh," his eyebrows rose, "You didn't know?" Kadaan tried to milk it for everything it was worth. "He never told you that he is the son of the Dark Lord himself?"

_There. There's the hilt. In Cheenan's hand. Behind his back._

"Would you like to know _why_ Darth Vader turned to the dark side?"

_The switch. Concentrate. There is no passion, there is peace. Get the switch._

Rock strong fingers grabbed her face, her eyes hardened, her cheeks squished between her teeth. She lost her focus.

" _Women_ ," he hissed into her face.

Kess stood stiff and shot a perturbed look at the moron.

Kadaan slowly let go of her. He strolled over to Cheenan and held out his hand. Cheenan handed over her lightsaber.

"Why are you so interested in your lightsaber?" He looked her hilt up and down then he ignited it, pointing the lethal tip at her nose.

Patiently, Kess met his gaze beyond the amber blade. She knew the amplitude would be wrong if she activated it while it was on.

Kadaan turned it off again and stomped to her. His mouth stiffened and twitched, and then his eyes closed.

Kess felt the prodding and slammed her eyes shut to send up a mental block. She put up as much of a brick wall as she could, but her Force seemed transparent against the black tendrils of evil that cut through her mind. They stabbed into her conscience, roughly groped at her emotions, and ripped her calculations right out of her mind.

As soon as he got what he wanted, dark tentacles slithered away.

Kess was panting on her knees when she opened her eyes again, trying to gather her wits from feeling like her brain had been raped. She glared up at the villain.

Kadaan stood over her, already unscrewing the end cap from her lightsaber's hilt. "Admiral," he said, peering into the casing as he stepped away. "Would you please have our engineers find out what type of signal this would transmit," he shoved the hilt to Cheenan with one hand, and then shoved the separated power cell with the other. "And then have the auxiliary fleet transmit the signal from _their_ location instead."

The Admiral smirked at that, gave his master a quick nod, and strolled out of the room.

"So it seems your fleet is waiting for a signal, isn't it Kess?" he cooed, bringing his voice down low again. "When we reach Yavin 4, your fleet will be halfway to the Outer Rim looking for you."

Kess bowed her head to the floor and closed her eyes, screaming, swearing, and crying inside.

"Kneeling to me already?" The black cloak rippled as he laughed at her. "This is going to be easier than I thought."

Kess stared at the deck and heaved for breath. Her wrists glowed with pain, her mind bled from the rough penetration, her fear of failure wrapped around her mind like a black cloak…

 _No._ She though consciously. _Not his black cloak. His navy jacket._          

Kadaan was still talking, but Kess ignored him. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The shock from her burnt arms was beginning to numb and raw flame licked her imagination, but Kess worked to remember. She pulled up thoughts of a wet planet, a cold jungle, a dark sky, and a navy blue jacket wrapping around her shoulders, the gesture speaking words he couldn't yet say.

She remembered a cool, sweet soda and a heavy, warm gaze. He never said the words.

Kess started to grin to assure the image of him. _I know._

Kadaan's fist gathered the collar of her black uniform and yanked her back to her feet.

But Kess didn't care anymore. She found her peace. She set her balance on her boots and glared back at the man with confidence. "I'm not sure what you expect me to do for you."

"I don't expect you to do anything. I don't need you to _do_ anything. _I'll_ take care if it." He smiled again. "I don’t need you to win this war _or_ this battle. I don't need you kill Skywalker. I don't even need to turn you to the dark side." Kadaan told her simply. "I _will_ , but I don't _need_ to."

Kess shook her head with a sick chuckle, "If you think you can turn me to the dark side, you've got another thing coming."

"Oh, well, if you're going to make it fun for me." An iron fist pounded across her cheek. Her face whip-lashed to the side.

Kess inhaled a new dose of patience through her nose and tasted blood in her mouth.

Kadaan laughed casually at her reaction. "You see? I can already bring out the anger in you. _Precious_."

 


	34. LL3 34 Mother

** LL3       34        Mother **

"Hello!" Yana sat up straight. "There it is. There it is." The council members flocked around her as she adjusted the settings. She got a lock on the signal, the line squiggling across the screen like the heartbeat of a terrified rabbit. Yana stuttered out the readings. "Ah, it's the right frequency. Vector 2.76 by 4.66 by 0.32. Distance: 39 petametres."

As the location sputtered out of her mouth, the data was punched in. A single, three-dimensional star blipped onto the holomap. It was nowhere near the three ghost groups either.

Leia had spun around to shout out the orders, but her words stopped cold. Her mouth closed. She met Mothma's eyes.

Then Leia wrinkled her forehead at Yana. "39 _petametres_?"

Yana checked at rechecked the reading. "Yes, Chief Commander." She glanced up at the map with only a vague understanding why the council hadn't started moving yet.

Madine punched a number into the map. "If she had left going that direction, the transport was in top shape, top speed, and top of the line," he punched in his estimates and stepped backward when another symbol popped up.

Leia jerked her head like the thing tried to get into her nose.

"She would have only been able to get two _terametres_ away," Madine said. He put his hands on his hips and turned to Mothma, "Either a Star Destroyer's short wave guns really did spike, or they figured her out already and it's a decoy. There's no way that _she_ could have gotten _that_ far, _that_ fast."

Leia's lips tightened into a crooked smile, "Either way, someone has to be out there to transmit the signal."

Mothma's eyebrow rose. She thought for a minute and stepped away. "Lieutenant, put me on a coded channel with the Fiddanl fleet, please."

* * *

At Kadaan's order, the glossy-black armored guards returned to her sides and shoved her back out to the bridge. Kadaan stepped away to tend to other matters with Cheenan.

Kess went to work. She kept her eyes open so no one would notice, and her anger controlled so she could sense well enough to succeed. She directed her attentions to the bridge crew. A few seconds inside the eyes of one and she moved to another, and another, until she found the low ranking officer that stared at the weapons systems readout. From there, her thoughts moved to the actual console, digging into the metal chassis itself, finding the electronic signals blinking in nanosecond pulses. It took complex and quick calculations to understand what she was looking at, but she translated what she saw in her Force senses into what she usually saw on a freq reader. From there, it made sense.

Kadaan half turned, getting ready to walk over to her again, but paused to say something else.

Kess hurried without panicking. She embedded her mind into the gold traces on the computer board, skipped over superfluous resistors and capacitors. She passed up a memory array, found the sync signal to the recharge activator, and raced as fast as the signals did down the electrical path.

Kadaan stepped away, asking a Lieutenant, "Is the med droid prepared?"

Kess' mind sped through a conduit and paused on a switchboard. A split second delay to figure out which way to go from there, and she was off again. The task became easier as she went along. She imagined that it was a tiny version of herself, flying through the electronics of the Star Destroyer. She was starting to enjoy the new perspective when her sights came upon the recharge unit of the short wave guns.

Kadaan stepped up to her. His eyes narrowed, suspecting something.

Kess didn't shift her eyes. She stared open-eyed at nothing.

The power connector looked ten metres tall in her mind, the recharge unit was the size of a pad complex, and the gold trace was as wide as a road. The recharge unit was one of the new Latham designs, with which she was barely familiar, but trons were trons. She gave the system a good once over and proceeded directly to the power connector.

Kadaan closed his eyes in front of her, but her thoughts fled so far from the bridge itself that he couldn't find her. Kess could only sense him back on the bridge, back where her body was, fumbling clumsily around in the blindness of the dark side.

Kess vaguely noticed when a fist clenched her neck. A thumb pressed against her throat like a vise. She couldn't breathe but she didn't care. She was much too focused to back out now.

Her mind pulled the wire from the power connector, dragged it over to the recharge unit, and jammed it between the leads. Kess backed her thoughts away, watching the pieces shrink back to their normal size, and the tiny spark fly from the short that she had created.

With that, she gave in under Kadaan's grip and choked.

* * *

"Minister Solo, Minister Solo." The urgency of Threepio's voice wasn't unusual, so Leia didn't turn from her conversation immediately.

But Lieutenant Dietrich had the same urgency in her own voice. "LEIA!"

Leia spun around, the impatience faded into horror as her eyes fell on the signal from the freq reader. "Another signal?"

Yana grinned as she adjusted the setting. "Yes, ma'am. Vector 5.67 by 4.87 by 0.23."

Chief Commander Mothma was there too, "Distance?"

"1.2 terametres, Chief Commander," Yana announced.

Madine passed the women and calculated the deteriorating amplitude. Leia turned to the holomap, Ackbar and Mothma stepped up with her, staring into the hologram in complete suspense at where the Imperials would show up.

Madine punched the enter key with a hard tap. Instantly, another three-dimensional red star appeared just centimetres outside Yavin 4 orbit, directly above the line where Kess' commlink signal had stopped.

The activity in the bunker exploded.

* * *

Han stopped talking and pressed the headpiece closer to his ear. His other hand moved quickly and flipped on the speaker so the others could hear the report as well.

Admiral Ackbar's serious tone rattled off the vector and the distance. Kayla recorded the numbers into the navicomputer as they sounded out. Luke slowly leaned forward, listening intently to the following approach pattern. He glanced at Han when the report was over.

"They're just outside the system," Lando noted.

Chewie hooted a report, 'all weapons loaded, all systems go.'

Han swiveled to face front in his chair, "Everybody strap in." Lando nodded and left. Luke pulled the five-point harness around his shoulders, thanking the Force that the wait was finally over.

"That's it," Kayla said, returning to the back seat. "Navicalc is set."

Han flipped off the speaker and listened to the headset as the Rebels reported their hyperspace jumps. In large groups, fighters and cruisers disappeared from the sky in front of them. Han raised his fingers to the console and called to Chewie. "Hit it!" he called and yanked down on the hyperspace throttle.

* * *

A dozen armored gloves grabbed her body from every direction and shoved her into a room. Her eyes flew open when her legs were pulled from beneath her. She watched in helpless horror as six stormtroopers violently threw her onto a plastic covered mattress. Kess saw the white walls and portable medical gear. She saw needles and tubes, stainless steel, and rubber gloves, and then she saw the sickly happy Admiral Cheenan stepping to her bedside.

The panicking fear within her had now mutated into a bullheaded anger. She glared up at him, struggling against the straps. "What do you _want_ from me?"

Cheenan shook his head, glanced over to the doctor when the man walked in, and turned back to her with a chiding grin. "This will only take a minute."

A med droid came to her other side and jabbed a needle into her arm. A tube began to fill with blood.

Kess closed her eyes and accepted it that her life could very well be over right now when they realized she wasn't pregnant with a Skywalker.

She watched anyway. A human doctor prepared for an operation as two of the stormtroopers started cutting off her pants with shears.

Kess freaked out. "What are you doing?"

The Admiral patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, precious. We'll do this the old fashioned way later."

"She tested positive, Admiral," the droid reported.

Kess blinked madly. How could this be possible? "Positive for _what_?"

She tried to lift her head to see, but firm hands instantly slammed her down. She dropped her head back on the operating table and closed her eyes. She felt cold blades slide along her thighs to her waist. The chilly air sent shivers on her bare legs as they pulled the black cloth of her black slacks away.

 _You have no right._          

Then they cut away her underwear. Kess was naked from her hips to her ankles. Cold struck skin not accustomed to exposure.

_Find your peace. There is no emotion there is serenity. Luke where are you?_

The armored fingers pressed under her knees and bent her legs back. They tied her ankles to the bed's stirrups. Stormtrooper fingers gripped her knees to hold them out of the way.

_There is no passion there is peace. There is no fear, there is no pain... There is no… There is no…_

Fingers poked her and she jumped, but the restraints held her back. Stormtroopers tightened their grip on her knees and shoulders. Chilly metal slid inside of her, pinching skin she didn't know she had.

There was a quiet click and the intrusion slid away again.

Kess was shaking with anger. Violation boiled in her blood. She wanted to slam the Admiral's throat shut and watch him die slowly of suffocation. But the troopers let go of her knees and threw a sheet over her legs.

She looked up and saw the doctor tossing away a small empty vial.

The med droid placed a unit on her arm. A tiny needle shot into her vein and stayed there. She tried to remain motionless so the needle wouldn't rip her skin while it took its reading.

The droid reported to the doctor. "HCG levels forty-two and holding."

The Admiral looked eagerly to the doctor and the droid.

The doctor assured Cheenan. "Don't worry, Admiral. We can do this as many times as necessary until it works."

Kess couldn't decide whether to hope it worked or hope it didn't. She fought inwardly to calm herself down. She reached deep into her own soul, deep into her memory for a happy memory to keep herself sane.

The droid spoke mechanically, "Forty-six. Forty-eight. Fifty. And rising steadily, sir."

The doctor nodded, "It worked, Admiral."

Admiral Cheenan bent over her face and shook her shoulders.

Kess opened her eyes at the man to find him giving her a toothy smile, "Congratulations, Kess. You're going to be a mother."

She held the snarling glare until he left the room. The doctor, droids, and stormtroopers were cleaning her up from the event, but now that stuff didn't bother her all that much. Kess' mouth tightened, her eyelids wrinkled. She started to wonder if she would lose her battle against the dark side before the real battle even started.

 


	35. LL3 35 We're Coming

** LL3       35        We're Coming **

Luke folded his hands together on his lap, crossed his ankles on the base of the targeting box, and relaxed in the chair of the lower gun turret. He stared out at the star streaks flying by and found his peace by touching on a happy memory.

_Sunshine glowed into his barracks on a Benduday afternoon as he sat at his dining table, eating lunch, still reading an interesting datacard they'd found in the records. Kess poked at her food across the table and rested her cheek on her fist with a sigh of boredom._

_Luke stabbed his fork down onto a chunk of meat, but the meat moved away from his aim._

_His fork paused. His eyes turned up. He tried not to smile._

_Kess had one eye pinched shut and her finger poked out from where her temple rested on her fist, trying to be sneaky, trying not to giggle._

_Luke licked his lips shut and set down his fork. He rested his hand on the table by his plate and curled his index finger and thumb into a little circle. He eyed her plate carefully and flicked._

_A chunk of meat flew up at her nose._

_Kess reeled with laughter, protecting herself from the flying food. It hit her face and dribbled down her front when she caught it. Then grabbed it hard and prepared to throw it back._

_Luke pointed his finger at her. "You mess up my place, you're cleaning it up!"_

_"You're the one making a mess. Not me." She complained childishly and put the food back on the edge of her plate. She settled again and poked her fork into her own food._

_Luke turned his eyes back to his datapad. He successfully stabbed his food with his fork, glad that bit was over, and chewed another bite as he picked up his reading where he left off._

_The datapad shifted._

_Luke threw his head back with a smiling shout, "It's not a toy!"_

_Kess laughed back, "Well, why not?"_

"You awake?" Kayla's voice shattered Luke's imagination. He swiveled around to see her lying on the ladder well behind him and propping her head comfortably on her hand. "Skipper's been trying to get you on the comm," she said.

Luke motioned at the headset still hanging on the wall. "I haven't plugged in yet. What does he want?"

"He wants to run through the rescue plan one more time," Kayla said. "He doesn't seem to like the idea of you going in there by yourself."

Luke shot her a sideways glance as he reached for the headset. He met Kayla's shy smile and pressed in the earpiece. "Han? I know the plan already. You land, Kayla busts the hatch, I go in and get her, and we take off. How complicated can it be?"

"It can get _really_ complicated." Han retorted. "We are talking about boarding a Star Destroyer in the midst of battle. You don't think you're just gonna stroll in there, do you?"

Luke grinned, " _You_ would."

"C'mon kid, let me go with you. Chewie can fly this thing—

Luke interrupted him, "the fewer people that leave this ship, the fewer people we risk losing."

Han's gave in, "All right, all right, I'll shut up. But keep in mind, if all else fails, we can just disable the ship she's on and get her after the battle is over."

Luke nodded patiently, "If all else fails," he assured. "What's our ETA?"

There was a short pause, then Luke heard the buckles start clicking on the pilot's chair straps. "Five minutes."

Kayla heard it and backed up on the ladder well again. "May the Force be with you," she told him, and scrunched up at the gravity shift node to climb up instead of upside down.

Han's voice called over the comm. "Let's lock and load."

* * *

Kess felt years older. She walked with her head bowed in defeat and anger. When someone spoke to her, she only glared back, beaten and cold. They took her back to the bridge and stayed center rear until called for. Kess stared at a spot in the air in front of her, her mouth drawn tight, and hair falling into her face, and she pretended not to notice, or at least not care, about the increase of activity among the bridge crew.

"Delta squadron, pull up point two and fall in an Orenth formation with the _Vengeance_ ," one said.

"Mern detail; report your weapons status," said another.

Admiral Cheenan mumbled to one of his officers and dashed to another, mumbling more. Kess listened to the reports, and sensed the tension, and saw hundreds of TIEs of various models forming up in front of the Destroyer.

No buts about it; they'd rendezvoused.

Kess stared out of the window of the bridge through long, scrambled locks of hair. Standing there in the blue hospital pants and the tails of her black shirt hanging awkwardly down her hips, she looked like a used tissue. Her forearms were blackened with burns and her wrists bound in front of her with the steal binders. She stared at the fleet around them with helplessness. The row of Star Destroyers stretched out in both directions, surrounded with TIE fighters, and all pointing in the direction of home. Yavin 4 was a tiny green knot among white speckled stars. It couldn't have been more than a few hours away.

Kess' heart sank into her stomach. Tears filled her eyes. Luke would have been here by now.

Kadaan marched in from a side room and wordlessly reached out a hand to Cheenan. The Admiral handed over Kess' lightsaber without breaking his concentration from the duties of organizing the rendezvous. Kadaan stepped into his chambers holding the lightsaber casually from his hand among his dark robes.

No one was paying attention to her this time, so she closed her eyes, found her peace, and reached out with her mind like a snapping snake at her lightsaber.

And she hit the switch.

Just for good measure, she hit it again.

Desperately, craving Luke to come for her, she hit it again.

And again...

* * *

Yana turned around quickly, "Another signal, Minister."

Leia stepped up to the holomap and typed as Yana read aloud, "Vector 5.67 by 4.86 by 0.23. Distance 1.2 terametres. All eyes were on the map, now littered with more data, the red line, the signal from 39 petametres, the signal from two terametres, and the moving green blob representing the Alliance fleet already on their way.

Yana's voice pierced the suspense. "Another signal. Vector 5.67 by 4.86 by 0.23. Distance 1.2 terametres." As she spoke, the first reading popped up on the map, millimetres from the signal to where the fleet was already heading. The red dot got bigger and brighter as Yana continued to report signal after signal in the exact same place.

Leia's eyes hardened at the repeated red dots and approaching green blob, and whispered, "We're coming, Kess, we're coming."

* * *

As soon as Admiral Cheenan got the opportunity to do so, he went to Kess and flashed a smile, but he passed her by without a word and disappeared into Kadaan's chambers.

Kadaan stepped out smoothly, dragging his robes elegantly on the floor and waved the stormtroopers away from her. "Come, precious," he said lovingly as he strolled slowly to the front of the bridge. He gestured a hand at an officer as he passed. "Ready my shuttle."

Kess didn't move until a blaster poked at her shoulder blade. In annoyance, she obeyed to follow Kadaan to the front of the bridge.

He stepped to the window and gloated over his fleet, waving a grandiose hand at his minions. "We are stronger than ever before."

Kess looked over the fleet and the green moon not so far away. She wondered if she would be able to see the Alliance ships from here.

"Relax. You are on the safe side. Your friends will be dead, regrettably, but you will live. We are going to take very good care of you." Kadaan didn't look at her when he muttered it. "The longer you live, the more eggs you produce for us and the more children I can train from birth."

Brown eyes stabbed at the man. She hated Kadaan with everything she had. And he stood there gloating with pride over his success. He was proud of his fleet, proud of capturing his prisoner, and all out giddy about the fun he was about to have with the two put together.

Cheenan stepped up. "It's time, Master Kadaan."

"We'll ride into orbit with you." Kadaan turned his curious nose in their destination, "I want to see the effectiveness of our chempods before we go."

Cheenan nodded, "Yes, Master," then called behind him to his crew. "All hands calculate navicomp." The order was echoed by another as it was passed on to the rest of the fleet.

Kess stared out into the stars beyond the TIEs, stared out at the small green knot in the black sky that was Yavin 4. Her peace was crumbling, her faith was diminishing, and her serenity had all but disappeared.

The Force prickled on her skin.

Cheenan received more data and called out again, "Prepare for light speed."

"Prepare for light speed," his order was repeated.

Kess' eyes watered as she stared out the window, powerless, but it felt like there was a single thread of hope. It felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. It felt like a star was growing bigger in the Force.

Kadaan smiled faded. He turned to the window to study the night sky.

And then the stars began to move.

 


	36. LL3 36 The Battle of the Line

** LL3       36        The Battle of the Line **

"Admiral, we have multiple collision alerts."

Kess' focus hardened. The corners of her mouth curled upward.

"There's something blocking the path to Yavin 4."

Cheenan's smile vanished as he turned to the officer, and he turned to the window again. His thoughts clicked wildly in his mind. His grip tightened on the arms of his chair just as another officer reported, "Multiple enemy targets directly ahead."

Kadaan stepped closer to the window, wrath reflected back to Kess.

The stars shot straight at them from the glittery backdrop and stopped in their faces as the entire Alliance fleet came out of hyperspace within a single second of each other. The mass of Rebels faced the mass of Imperials one to one, drawing a long battle line in space, and immediately let loose on the guns.

The Imperials barely had time to blink before the onslaught.

Mon Calamarian cruisers fired onto Star Destroyers as soon as their images came clear in front of them. X-wings appeared nose to nose with TIE fighters and took up chase. Alliance Capital Ships stared down each Imperial Star Destroyer, nose to nose, blocking the path to Yavin 4 and attacking at point blank range.

Kess let out a sick laugh and Kadaan lost his temper. One fist went into Kess' mouth as the other brought around her lightsaber. She fell to the floor with more blood at her lip, but she was still laughing at him.

Cheenan shot from his chair, yelling it at the top of his lungs. "Fire!"

Kadaan stopped forward and flicked on Kess' weapon, ready to stab the blade right into her throat.

The amber blade reached out about five centimetres and sank back into the hilt; its power cell completely drained from the repeated signals.

Kadaan looked at it with widened eyes, but Kess reached her hand out and sucked Cheenan's lightsaber off his belt. She caught it with one hand from her welded binders, did rolling back flip on the floor to land on her bare feet, and fired up the red blade.

Kess kept her body sideways and her left hand hanging limp from the binders, easily allowing one hand to wield the lightsaber by itself like a fencing sword.

Her eyes sparkled at Kadaan. "You were saying?"

Kadaan hooked her dead hilt on his belt with anger seething from his teeth, and pulled his own red-bladed lightsaber from his robes.

* * *

With playful, wildcat energy, X-wings dove into groups of TIEs and took up chase with whoever was in their sights. Moving in flowing formation, Y-wings shot electric-blue proton lasers at Star Destroyers to disable their shields. A-wings zipped behind the line to pound lethal pellets into shield generators. Bubble-shaped Mon Calamari cruisers, hammerhead blockade runners, and skinny Corellian battleships held their ground, firing all at once.

Han waited for Luke's report and was killing time close to the line Star Destroyers by taking out as many Imperials as he could. Luke fired at any TIE that happened to be in front of him, but spent space between convenient shots trying to detect which vessel Kess was on. He could faintly detect her out there, but it was hard to keep focus with so many high-stress emotions flowing around.

Looking out the lower gun turret, the _Falcon_ sailed over the battle line. A dozen Alliance Capital Ships faced down as many Star Destroyers, throwing shots into each other's hulls in a chicken fight of who would die first.

From a distance, the dark, black holes in the Force of Kadaan and Cheenan were canceling out her light enough to prevent any clear signs showing Luke where she was.

Luke closed his eyes and concentrated. The flitting thoughts filled his senses like a loud white noise. He pushed it aside and focused above it, calling out to the Force, " _Kess_."

* * *

Cheenan shouted out orders to the fleet. The hands of the pit crew flew across consoles. Kadaan faced Kess down and brought his blade to crash against hers. With the binders on, and the back of one wounded arm tied to the front of the other wounded arm, she could barely keep her grip on the hilt.

Kadaan stepped forward, trying to corner her until the guards could make it across the bridge and shoot her with a stun gun.

Kess pulled her blade away and separated her wrists as far as the binders would allow. With one swift, brave move, she brought the binders down on the tip of the red blade until it sliced through the joint of the binders and separated her arms.

Now she adjusted her grip to hold the lightsaber hilt firmly with both hands, now wearing two half-melted bracelets.

The stormtroopers came up quickly from the side and Kadaan was in front of her. Kess brought her blade hard against his just to get him to firm up his position. She pulled back just as quickly to duck under his blade and dashed out of the corner.

Troopers stopped and aimed, but paused that Kadaan would have caught any missing shots. Kess hopped on top of the terminals in the pit. Bare feet danced down to the row, once stepping on a man's head just to keep moving. A technician shot from his chair and grabbed for her feet. She jumped out of his reach and over him until both bare feet hit the deck again.

The officers in the pit shot out of their chairs for her the same time troopers shot stun blasts at the pit, hitting several of their own crew. Kess already ducked and ran for the stairs and the open lift doors at the back of the room.

Cheenan shouted for the officers to get back to their duties. Troopers raced across the floor to the elevator, and Kadaan slashed his way through his own troops to get to her. Kess hit the elevator control the moment she raced through the doors and turned to find the entire bridge in a mad scramble. Several bodies littered the deck already.

Kadaan raced around the pit to get to her with his red lightsaber and the doors began to slide closed in front of her face.

From behind her red lightsaber, Kess waved at him and smiled. "Bye-bye."

Furious, Kadaan let out a battle cry and stabbed at the closing doors. Kess pressed her body against the back wall and watched the blade come within a centimetre of her face. As the elevator started to lower, the blade sliced a slow gap in the doors and finally through the roof. Kess' eyes followed the blade as she left him on the bridge and let out a breath.

_Kess._

It felt like he'd whispered it into her ear. The sound of his Force voice washed over her like a white blanket. _"Luke!"_ she screamed in her mind, _"Luke! I'm on the Vengeance. Luke!"_

The doors opened and a dozen stormtroopers were already waiting for her. She brought up the blade and blocked several shots, then stepped forward to slash her way out of the elevator.

* * *

Luke's eyes flew open and his eyes shined intensely. "Han, she's in the _Vengeance_. Second Destroyer on our port side."

The _Falcon_ lunged in that direction. Luke gritted his teeth and fired at the wild nest of TIE fighters, keeping a piece of his mind listening for additional signals from Kess.

Y-wings scattered from their formations, but still sailed across the line of Star Destroyers at top speed, firing protons into every hull as they passed. A-wings came in behind the first disabled Star Destroyer. Shield generators blew up and the Corvette battleship facing it down continued firing until the Star Destroyer exploded into a thousand pieces.

The news passed quickly that a live Rebel was on the _Vengeance_. Most of the X-wings peeled off from attacking that particular Star Destroyer. Y-wings still shot to disable it and the _Falcon_ circled over and around the pointed hull, taking out TIEs and gun turrets until they could land. The Medstar frigate _Victory_ , remained nose to nose with the Star Destroyer _Vengeance_ , but redirected its green bolts to hit swarming TIEs and neighboring Star Destroyers instead.

* * *

Kess ran down the passageway and around a corner, dodging shots from behind, and leaving a pile of stormtroopers on the floor. In the empty corridor, she paused just long enough to sense out to Luke's location. She could feel his light dashing around out there.

She shouted into the Force, _"Just below the bridge!"_ Her eyes flicked around to get her bearings, feeling another collection of troopers headed her way, and dashed the other direction. _"Starboard side!"_ She aimed for any room that would put her just inside the exterior hull.

She came around the next corner and skidded to a halt.

Kadaan stood in the middle of the corridor with a band of stormtroopers behind him.

Kess' mouth dropped in shock as they fired passed their Master at her. She tried to raise her guard in time. One of the shots sailed into the charred flesh on the back of her hand, exploding the pain in her left arm. Kess cried out and wrenched her hand away from the hilt, backing around the corner for cover.

Kadaan firmed up his grip with both hands and followed her.

She brought the blade up and clashed against his. He strafed forward, banging at her blade and trying to corner her with new oncoming troops. Kess squared her shoulders at him, trying to grip the hilt with her wounded hand again, but the muscles in her forearm were useless now. She slashed sideways at him, the red blade wavering in clumsily the air from the misdirected maneuver.

A shot came from behind her. She flattened her back to the wall and saw the stormtroopers coming from behind. She raised her guard to block a swing from Kadaan, saw the stormtroopers coming from behind him as well, and looked ahead at a door on the other side of the corridor. _A door!_

With quick thoughts, she flipped up the controls and, with a loud growing growl, she raced across the corridor and dove inside the next room.

_"Port side!"_

* * *

Luke called into the mike, "Port side! Port side!"

Han grunted as he yanked the stick and sailed around the back of the tower.

Luke studied her light, and focused on it, looking at the skinny neck of the bridge tower. He could detect her now, her light tossing around right next to Kadaan's black hole of a Force print. "The library deck!" Luke yelled, but his attentions were pulled away to the gun turret that was spitting at him from the bridge tower.

Luke fired a dozen red shots sequentially until the turret fizzled and silenced.


	37. LL3 37 The Odds Change Color

** LL3       37        The Odds Change Color **

Kess found herself in a large library with database terminals towering in short rows.

She spun around and her blade crashed against his again, but dropped her wounded arm and balanced it in the air behind her back, taking a sideways, fencing stance.

Kadaan gave her a grin at her brave position and reached back for another hard swing. Kess strafed back and lowered her blade out of the way so that Kadaan's lightsaber would sail into a terminal instead of hitting hers. The metal sizzled under his blow and electricity spat out of the hardware.

Kadaan pulled back and swung the other way. Kess again whipped her blade out of his way, denying him the chance to overpower her. She tapped his blade tauntingly, making little circles in the air at him, whipping the blade back in forth in front of his face, not giving him enough time to take the offensive again.

Kadaan stepped forward again, and Kess realized her mistake as a half a dozen stormtroopers poured into the room and washed around the rows of equipment, moving to get behind her.

* * *

Cheenan's mouth twitched as he focused on another flock of Y-wings sailing down at his ship and firing rapidly. His TIEs screamed in all directions, more being chased than on the chase. Two Star Destroyer's of his fleet were already disabled by the Y-wings' poisonous darts.

"Admiral, we've lost our deflector field."

Cheenan set his hands on his hips and glared out the window to the fatal efforts of his battle group and he decided that it was time to pull out the ace up his sleeve.

The special weapons were meant for Yavin 4 surface. There _was_ an auxiliary battle group. They were to clean up the mess on Yavin 4 after the battle was over, but they were a full day away. He'd be dead in an hour if he didn't do something now.

Kadaan would probably lose his temper on Cheenan's throat if this idea didn't work, but Cheenan firmly decided that he'd be dead in short order if he didn't do something anyway.

"Arm the chempods," Cheenan ordered gruffly. The order was echoed to the rest of the battle group. "Launch one each at their Capital Ships." That order was also echoed. He turned back to the window, staring down the frigate _Victory_ that stared down him, and let the words fall from his lips. "Fire at will."

* * *

Han was trying to ease the _Falcon_ down on the _Vengeance_ 's front porch. The pounding of Lando's gun in the upper turret rattled the hull with each fire. Chewie kept his eyes peeled and fired off a couple of shots on the forward guns at any Imperial that looked like it was coming their way.

"Are they disabled yet?" Luke's voice came across the comm as he yanked his body out of the turret chair.

"No," Han told him, "But the shields are down and the upper turrets are out. We'll be able to fight off the TIEs, but it won't be long before the whole thing blows, so _be quick_."

Kayla and Luke rushed to stuff into the underbelly of the _Falcon_. Kayla moved to the airlock, getting it ready to lower the evac tube.

Luke loaded a blaster and stuffed two spare cartridges into his belt. He spat impatiently into the intercom, "You've got to get us in there first."

Kayla rubbed the sweat from her palms to her pants legs and pulled up on the large mechanical handle. "You sure she's in this part of the ship and not the bridge?"

Luke didn't answer right away. He stared at the lower hatch door at his feet, now the only safety between them, and the vacuum of space. He sensed out to Kess and found her light only metres away, shining as bright as the sun and busy as a starving bumblebee.

He had to get in there.

He tightened his grip on the hilt of his lightsaber. "I'm sure."

* * *

Kess strafed back to the far wall, knowing it would be easier to block shots from the side than from behind. The troopers came around the corner the same time she cleared the rows and started shooting at her. Kess scrunched to the ground on strong thighs, letting the first wave of shots sail over her head and jumped back up with the Force. She brought her feet up to her stomach as she crested, and brought them down on top of the two rows of terminal towers.

Kadaan brought his blade upward to slice her in half from the bottom, but she dove onto the roof of a tower and rolled once to flatten her body on the top of it.

Shots fired at the ceiling around her. She sensed out Luke, just a metre away, and realized the _Falcon_ was trying to land onto the room next door.

Kess rolled over onto her stomach and barely peeked over the edge of the terminal. Two stormtroopers were on that side, aiming their shots closer to her. She flicked her fingers at one of them. "Shoot the wall."

As ordered by a Force Persuade, he turned around and blew a hole in the metal bulkhead.

The terminal jerked with a blow then jerked again as Kadaan sliced away the electronics, trying to get her down. Kess rolled off the other side, landing on the stormtrooper that was aiming at her, and slicing the arm off the stormtrooper that blew a hole in the wall for her. Before any of the others could get around the row, she ducked into the room next door.

Through a wide set of windows, she saw the _Falcon's_ fat hull clamping down onto the Star Destroyer sideways. She darted to the side of the hole and slashed down at the first blaster rifle that poked through. Her eyes darted to the _Falcon_ again and an evac tube crept toward the window like a big mosquito getting ready to draw blood.

She sliced off the next arm that tried to enter. The stormtrooper crumbled to the ground on the spot. Kess went towards the window, placing herself in front of the evac tube's destination, happy to be that blood.

* * *

Looking up sideways at the front of the tower, Lando saw it before it showed up on anybody's monitors. A single missile fired out of the bridge tower, one like he'd never seen before. The large pill-shaped pod quickly gained momentum with its thrusters pushing behind it. Lando didn't recognize the markings and thought it odd that a concussion missile would have a serrated point of a nose. He squinted as it sailed over his head, "What the hell is that?"

Luke straightened his shoulders when he detected the worry in Lando's tone, but Han spoke before Luke had the chance. "What the hell is _what_?"

Then Han saw it, and recognized it. He flipped the switched on the console, " _Victory_ , you've got incoming. It's a chempod. Get out of its path."

Chewie's eyebrows slanted and a shadow of horror crossed Han's face.

The odds of the battle just changed color.

Apparently, someone on the _Victory_ already recognized it. Escape pods shot out of the _Victory_ 's hull like hot corn popping off the ear. Han watched the missile hit the _Victory_ 's polygon nose, dead center, burrow itself into the hull, and disappear.

The thick rank of death saturated Luke's senses and his eyes watered as if he had just walked into a cloud of tear gas. He could feel flesh instantly rotting, and he could hear the pain in the screams. He fell on one knee at the sucking drain of hope. "We'll never last against chempods."

Lando kept his eye on the missile silo of the _Vengeance_ to report any other pods, and Han tried to get back to the business of landing the _Falcon_ and settled half-cocked on the Star Destroyer's hull. "Go kid."

"Right," Luke said.

Han listened to the sounds of the lower hatch in his headset. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the _Victory_ still moving toward them.

Most of its crew were already dead at their stations. All systems go. Attack forward.

Han stared wide-eyed as his hands moved faster. "Actually, kid, don't open it at all."

The _Victory_ slowly corkscrewed in their direction. Its hang-tail spun upward as it drifted head first towards the _Vengeance_. Han yanked the _Falcon_ off the Star Destroyer's hull.

"No!" Luke cried.

Kayla reached a hand as if she hoped to grab Kess' hand through the hull and pull her through space.

The _Falcon's_ pace quickened away before they could open the hatch.

Luke's face burned red as he shot up the ladder well to rip Han's head clean off.

* * *

The sudden movements of the _Falcon_ brought Kess' attention to the window. She saw the disc ship fly away with splintered metal falling from its landing claws. "No!" She cried out, reaching to the window as if to grab a hold of the thing as it flew away.

The distraction gave Kadaan his chance. He nailed her blade with such a powerful blow that it went spinning in the air away from her. The ship rocked with an unseen explosion and the electricity sputtered away as the _Vengeance_ was disabled. Kess set her feet apart to keep from falling over on the rocking deck, but Kadaan's sure footing allowed him to bring his blade to her neck.

Kess inhaled through her nose and put her hands in the air for surrender.

Kadaan pulled away his blade and instead belted her across the ear with a fist. Her head went dizzy and blood oozed from her hair. She was still standing when she flopped against the wall. Her body slapped so hard against the hard metal it looked like she'd fallen vertically onto it from two metres.

Kadaan stormed to her and closed his fingers around her throat, pressing her back up against the window. He picked her up by her neck and squeezed. Kess struggled for air, grabbing his collar in desperation. Her senses flickered and her eyesight began to fade, and then realized that she's lost control of her ability to function just before she passed out.

Kadaan watched her slowly go limp and dropped her. With a stiff glare, he grabbed her arm again and dragged her hastily out the room like a rag doll.

* * *

The gravity well rocked as Han dipped under the _Victory_ , just metres from being crushed between the two bigger ships.

Luke tore onto the cockpit with panic in his eyes and anger in his voice, "Han! _Land this ship_!"

"Can't, kid." Han hissed between his teeth, yanking on the stick to pull around the next Star Destroyer for cover from the evident explosion. Luke grabbed onto the back of the passenger chair to keep his balance.

The _Falcon_ screamed passed the next Destroyer's bridge, almost uncaring about the direct hits they were getting. As the _Falcon_ banked, Luke saw why Han had left so quickly.

The _Victory_ slowly corkscrewed across the battle line and dove right into the _Vengeance's_ lap.

 


	38. LL3 38 Abandon Ship

** LL3       38        Abandon Ship **

"All hands abandon ship! All hands abandoned ship!" The cry over the _Vengeance_ 's loudspeakers was starting to panic when the caller apparently dropped the mike and just ran.

Kadaan dragged Kess' limp body across the tiny docking bay and commanded the first pilot he saw to fire up his transport. The pilot didn't mind and raced into the little ship, leaving his evacuation crew behind him. Kadaan followed the man's pattering feet into the cockpit and dropped Kess' body into a passenger seat. The pilot flipped controls and grabbed the throttle with amazing speed and accuracy.

Kadaan stood at her side, pulling the straps around her body and securing her limp figure into place. Kess winced a little and started to wake up again. A pilot punched at the navicomp for a hyperspace jump. As soon as she realized that she was on a transport and not the _Vengeance_ , her panic started to boil.

Kess lost all hope of ever getting back home, but—

The plan worked. The Imperials were headed off at the rendezvous point. They would never make it to Yavin Base. All those lives are saved. Kess found solace in that.

Kess told her father what he needed to know, and her father begrudgingly accepted it, and so found her peace with that.

And even though she wasn't supposed to do it so soon, Kess took the chance anyway and told Luke she loved him. She breathed a smile, nodding at herself, at her grandfather, at the Force. She was at peace with all of it.

Her training was over.

* * *

The tri-wings folded down for flight and the transport rose off the docking bay floor. The bay doors opened with a manual jerking. Troopers and grunts and pilots and officers raced to the nearest escape pod, but most of them wouldn't make it.

The _Victory_ twisted full ninety degrees by the time hull met hull. The outstretched hang-tail of the frigate fell sideways onto the _Vengeance_ the same time its polygon nose beheaded the bridge tower. Both hulls collapsed in slow motion.

And Luke let out gut shuddering scream, _"NO!"_

Han's heart sank into his stomach at the sound of Luke's pain but frantically pulled the _Falcon_ around the next big ship to keep from getting blown away from the blast. His shields wouldn't hold against that.

The _Victory_ detonated first, the _Vengeance_ a split second later.

And the entire battle came to a brief halt when the explosion rattled every single hull panel on the battlefield.

Fire bubbled out in large chunks of air, knocking out everything in its path for kilometres. Even the Star Destroyer that Han was trying to hide behind got knocked off-center. TIEs fried on contact. X-wings went into wild spins. The _Falcon_ blew away like a dried leaf in an autumn breeze. Everyone not strapped down in his or her craft was beat forcibly against the nearest wall.

Kadaan gave the order to hit hyperspace to anywhere. The hyperdrive engines wound up just as the _Victory_ crushed the _Vengeance_. Flying debris rained on the transport, ripping two of the three wings off its body. The flames engulfed the rear, frying the hyperdrive engines on contact. The transport tumbled with the spewing pieces of Star Destroyer, toasting the hull black as the lights blinked out.

* * *

Han swallowed his nausea and grabbed the controls to steady the _Falcon_. Before Chewie had the chance to check the scopes, TIEs swarmed over them like flies on a rotting carcass.

"Lando, you still up there?"

"Yeah," Lando coughed quietly back. In a few seconds, the rumbling of the upper turret resumed.

"Luke?" Han called back worried, but couldn't pull his attentions away from the business of battle long enough to get more than a glimpse of the bodies on the cockpit floor. "Kayla?"

Kayla sat up slowly, "I'm okay." She rubbed her bleeding shoulder and scooted closer to Luke. "Luke?" Her aching body rose to her knees to tend to the man lying next to her in nearly a fetal position. She shook his shoulder with one hand and began to reach to his neck to check his pulse with the other.

Luke moaned and slowly rolled onto his back. Kayla gasped at the amount of blood on his leg and had to look closer to find the horizontal gash across the front of his left thigh. She instantly pressed both hands on the cut to slow the bleeding and reported the situation to Han. "He's got a bad cut on his leg. I need to get him in the back and dress it."

Luke's eyes slammed shut and his mouth was tense with rage. His face glowed a burning red. He didn't reach for his leg. He didn't care if it had been sliced completely off. He hid his eyes with his fingers and ignored Kayla's gentle requests for him to get up.

"C'mon, Luke. I've got to patch this up. You're losing a lot of blood."

"They'll give me another leg," he said tartly.

Kayla watched his lips twitch with a barely contained scream. His nerves were shattered and his purpose in life was, for the moment, gone. But Kayla knew that it was only for the moment. She let go of his leg and grabbed his collar with both hands, bringing his face up to hers.

Luke snarled, ready to bite her head off for yanking him with such vigor when he certainly had a right to be enraged.

Kayla's eyes stared into his with the serious calm he should have already been practicing. "Cry later," she ordered.

Luke blinked at her. The duties rolled back above feeling sorry for himself on the top of his current priorities. He closed his eyes and sighed, found what peace he had left, and grabbed onto Kayla's shoulder to help him stand.

* * *

Admiral Ackbar cried into the mike. "Stay out of the way of the chempods! Shoot them down with torpedoes!"

But even as he said it, he watched the _Tamalak_ yank itself slowly sideways only to be hit in the side instead. The TIEs peeled off their attack on the ship, immediately moving to other live vessels, and the Corellian cruiser starting falling down out of the battle line.

"Our one man fighters can evade those missiles." Ackbar called out to his fleet, "All groups: concentrate your raid on the Destroyers. Disable them before they can get a shot."

Wedge ripped over the hull of a blockade-runner with Teak at his wing. As soon as the Star Destroyer came into view, they fired at it together. A TIE bomber splintered in front of Wedge and he yanked away from the collision. Teak continued his attack on the Destroyer with several A-wings and X-wings helping the effort from all directions.

The Destroyer started to list and a small explosion burst through the lower part of its hull but, without fail, a chempod shot out of the bridge silo as its last ditch effort against the Alliance.

The blockade-runner pushed its nose down and punched the thrusters. The chempod sprayed afterburner in its wake and followed the runner's exact path. It hit. It burrowed. And the runner continued to sink downward, barely missing the exploding hull of the destroyer in its death.

Teak swore into the channel.

Wedge pulled around to meet him just in time to see Teak's X-wing spiraling out of control into the dead Star Destroyer's hull.

* * *

"She could've gotten out on an escape pod." Kayla told him, not sounding hopeful, and ripped the fastenings closed on his bandage.

Luke winced at the pain, both physical and emotional. He couldn't sense her anymore. He couldn't feel her anywhere. She just wasn't out there.

"Right now, we have bigger problems on our hands." Kayla stepped backwards and looked him in the eye. Kayla was having a hard enough time already. If Luke Skywalker fell apart, they were in really big trouble.

Luke pulled himself off the bunk and limped passed her to the ladder well. "No," he hissed, "the _Imperials_ have a problem." Without a care to the pain in his leg, he hobbled rapidly down the ladder well and, in moments, the lower gun turret was rumbling through the ship again.

Han watched three X-wings get sequentially fried and muttered under his breath. "We are getting creamed."

Chewie ruffed at him, concentrating hard on killing the TIEs in front of them, and hooted again.

Han yanked the stick, "I'm going! I'm going!" The battle line came into lopsided view and Han went straight for the nearest Star Destroyer. All three guns on the _Falcon_ fired in that same direction, but nothing they could do would stop the chempod that shot out of its bridge.

The nearest Mon Calamari cruiser launched three torpedoes at the thing. The chempod met with them at half distance, and the torpedoes exploded. The chempod wobbled its course momentarily but continued for the cruiser.

"Dammit!" Lando yelled out in frustration.

Over the top rear of the shaken battle line, two disc-shaped ships came out of hyperspace, and when they did, each shot out a dozen small, one-man ships.

Luke didn't recognize them at first, but Han called into the mike. "I guess the Frakkans really do want a treaty."

Luke shot out the turret at every moving Imperial thing, "They're a little _late_!"

The tiny Frakkan discs zipped into battle with alarming speed, maneuvering like fireflies on acid through the colorful bolts. Several of them went straight for the chempod missile. As the chempod closed in on the pickle-shaped hull, a Frakkan disc sped in front of it, and took the hit for them.

"Kamikazes?" Han's eyebrows shot up, yanking the stick to pull around and attack the Star Destroyer again.

"No one was in there," Luke reported. "Those things are unmanned."

Han cocked a half smile, aimed right for the Star Destroyer, and all three men lay on the guns at the deflector shield. Everybody ignored the TIEs altogether now. The sphere blew. A-wings came up over the bridge tower and fired down at the hull. The Star Destroyer listed slightly, then blew into a thousand pieces.

The Frakkan addition to the battle brought a second wind to the troops. Each time a chempod fired, the tiny unmanned discs raced to intercept. When a chempod's nose met hull, the timer ticked for five full seconds and let out its flesh rotting poisons. The discs were so small that they didn't make it through the suicidal effort, but there was no one in them anyway; they were all being controlled by operators on mother ships, safely far behind the battle line.

As long as the Alliance didn't have to worry about those chempods, no one cared if the Frakkans themselves didn't step up for the fight. The Alliance was fine to rip the Star Destroyers to shreds by themselves. The Rebels ganged up on the Imperials, outmaneuvering them, out firing them, and eventually, outnumbering them. They fought with a fury beyond that of the Battle of Yavin. They fought with more desperation than the Battle of Endor. They fought like they had totally lost their temper until the last Star Destroyer exploded in space.

Most of the TIEs didn't have hyperspace capability, so the death of the last Star Destroyer meant the death for them too. Usually, the Alliance would round them up and start taking prisoners at that point, but many rebels individually kept shooting holes in hulls until last of the TIE fighter splintered in the night.

Angry battle cries of victory filled the airways. Frustration and pain colored the voices with the sick satisfaction of revenge. Without skipping a beat, the rescue efforts began. Every ship that still had the capability to do so began scanning the rubble for life signs.

The battlefield garbage stretched several gigametres in length. Y-wings cruised the rubble in pairs searching for lost comrades. Mon Calamari cruisers sucked in escape pods with a gentle tractor beam. From time to time, whole chunks of Star Destroyer tumbled into pieces of X-wing and exploded all over again. Homing beacons were followed to ejected pilots and the names of survivors were slowly reported back to home base one by one.

That first blockade-runner hit by a chempod was floating away. The _Falcon_ clamped itself onto the top of the runner's hull to steady it so an A-wing could land itself aside the ship and see to see if there were any survivors, if they were just disabled, or if the whole crew was really dead.

They were really dead.

 _Really_ dead.

The rescuing pilot returned to her craft with vomit in her enviro-suit. She reported that the blockade runner, and anything else that was hit by a chempod, should be sent into the atmosphere, giving the crew a proper space burial. She refused to go into detail, but reported there was no way to identify the bodies enough to try to send them home in boxes.

Han conveyed this information back to Admiral Ackbar and the Admiral sent out the word to the rest of the rescue teams. The _Tamalak_ , the _Conquest_ , and the _Mon Wrika_ were sent drifting towards Yavin's star, totaling over two-thousand people in those three ships alone. There wasn't anything left of the _Victory_ to send drifting.

There wasn't anything left of the _Vengeance_ either.

Luke stared out the _Falcon's_ cockpit over the tongue-shaped battlefield. He found his peace, calmed his worries, and pacified his burgeoning hate for the Empire. He sensed everything within his range. He scanned every possible piece of ship he could see. He even called out to the Force from time to time and listened for a response.

He could feel it. Deep down in his soul, he recognized this sinking feeling, this emptiness. He had been here before, and he guessed that he'd probably be here again, no matter how hard, or how long, he tried to rectify it.

Luke was the last of the Jedi.

Again.


	39. LL3 39 No Matches Found

** LL3       39        No Matches Found **

The _Falcon_ landed on Pad 14 and the gang stepped down the ramp with slumped shoulders and deep frowns. Chewie and Lando helped off wounded pilots the _Falcon_ was able to haul back. Han wrapped his arms around Leia and buried his face in her chestnut hair. Kayla went to Wedge and told him the news with her eyes. Wedge looked back to the _Falcon's_ ramp just as Luke was limping down.

His expression was blank. Whitened eyes flicked from empty spaces in the air to empty spaces in the floor. He stepped slowly off the ramp and stopped. His lips parted for an inhale, but his breath was jagged. He looked around the deck of Rogue Group X-wings as if he hadn't been there in years. His eyebrows started to wrinkle and his eyes shot back to the floor again.

Leia pulled away from her husband, looking to Luke with concern. Han turned to Luke and glanced at Lando standing next to him, but a frown creased his own brow. He set his hands on his hips and dropped his eyes. Wedge and Ashten watched, sympathetic and worried.

Luke glanced up again, looking into Leia's eyes, but it was a look like he was afraid to hope. "The survivor list." It was all he had the breath to say.

Leia motioned for Lando to grab the nearest runner and told Luke supportively, "They should be compiling it now." The thickness of the air seemed to relax when they all climbed on to sit on the bench seats, but not by much. Luke paused before getting on the thing.

Han spoke gently, "Let's go take a look, kid."

Almost reluctantly, Luke climbed on and sat down. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his palms. The runner purred to life and carried them away through the depressed masses of after-battle cleanup.

Luke already knew what he was going to find, but would not let the stone lie unturned. Maybe one of the cruisers found her when they scanned for ejected pilots. All battles left the troops in a state of disarray, and they were hit harder in this one that most. It often took several hours to complete and compile the survivor list before anyone could be certain out who _wasn't_ on it.

Anxiety saturated him as the runner came to a stop in front of the Council Building. He wordlessly followed the rest of the crowd to the first-floor data library. Luke took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness. The activity was slow and tasking, voices were hushed, but an entire crew coordinated the cleanup and rescue efforts from a particularly nasty confrontation. Luke rubbed his lips together and strolled between the glass stat boards behind the crowd.

Yana was already in there with half the admins in the room collecting around a special terminal. Leia stepped up and put a hand on Yana's shoulder. Yana was tense, staring angrily at the gray bar as it crept across the screen. Lando and Han placed themselves on the far side of the walkway between the terminals.

Luke stopped as soon as he realized it was still compiling and rested his back on the nearest vertical surface. He closed his eyes and sighed through his nose.

He didn't want to know the truth, but he knew had to face it, sooner or later. Someone had to look him in the eye and say it was so.

"Finally!" Yana hissed and attacked the keyboard the same time the other admins started shouting out a dozen different names to look up first. Yana didn't listen to them. She typed in **Kess Lendra**.

After a long five beats, the screen popped up. **No Matches Found.**

Yana's heart sank and Luke felt it. He ripped his back from the wall and stomped over to the terminal with a bark, "Get out of the way!"

Yana rolled backwards and raised her hands in surrender, letting him have control of the keyboard.

Luke hovered over her lap and typed. **LT Lendra.**

Five long beats counted again before it popped up. **No Matches Found.**

Luke banged on the keyboard. **Lendra, K**

 **No Matches Found.**            

 **Jedi Lendra** , he typed. 

 **No Matches Found.**            

 **Lindra**. Maybe someone misspelled it in the report.

 **No Matches Found.**            

**Kenobi Lendra**

**No Matches Found.**            

**Kesselia Lendra**

**No Matches Found.**            

Luke stared at the screen for a long moment. His lips pressed together. He banged the key one more time and typed it in, just to see the name on the screen.

**Kesselia Lendra Skywalker**

**No Matches Found.**            

Luke rested his fists on either side of the keyboard and dropped his head. His mouth went stiffer, his eyes shut tighter, and the breath through his nose huffed harder.

The room went tensely silent until one of the admins whispered to Yana. "We've received the first two reports of the rest. We need to start compiling the other list."

Yana put her hand on her chest for a moment, closing her eyes for a long blink, and nodded. Getting back to business before she lost control of the sorrow, she sat down at the next terminal over. She rested her hands on the keys but paused.

Yana breathed reluctantly without looking at him, "Do you want me to comm, when…"

Without opening his eyes, Luke barely shook his head. "No, Yana, don't even look for it."

A tear dropped out of the corner of Kayla's eye when she looked at him.

Luke pushed away from the terminal with his fists. "She was a Jedi," he said in a rough whisper. "There won't be a body."

Eyes followed his back as he walked out of the room.

He tried to set his mind so he could throw himself to the mercy of after-battle cleanup. He tried to concentrate his attentions on the survival of the living rather than the mourning of the dead. He tried to stuff his pain deep down in his soul until he could face it alone. Until he could face it at all.

His speed slowed as soon as he walked out the front door of the Council Building. The sun shined down on his face like it was beckoning him for a game of ball. Fighters in various states of battle damage were still landing into the top of the Complexes. Green grass between the giant stone monoliths lay shredded from the traffic and still half-filled with the speeders of those who hadn't yet returned. And those who would never come home.

Luke paused at the top of the steps. She wasn't coming home either. He inhaled deeply. The air quivered on the way to his lungs. She wasn't going to graduate. He slowly lowered himself down to sit on the step. She wasn't going to be his first Jedi Knight. He set his feet several steps below him and rested his elbows on his knees. She was never going to kiss him again. Luke let out the air with a collapsing exhale. She was never coming home.

Luke stared out across the quad.

Luke stared out at nothing.

Luke stared into his memory and, distantly, shook his head.

"No." He shook his head. He shoved to his feet. He rubbed his eye hard with the heel of his palm.

"No." He shook his head some more, figuring out what he could do next, thinking how he could help the most with the after-battle clean up. He shook his head the entire walk back to work.

"No."

 


	40. LL3 40 Killed In Action

** LL3       40        Killed In Action **

Luke almost forced Leia to assign him to the team managing the disbursement of the captured prisoners of war. Diligently and emotionlessly, he disarmed and dis-armored hundreds of stormtroopers and pilots saved by escape pods. He already had a lightsaber and a well-known reputation, but the stiff, cold, and **mean** look on his face throughout the effort was well noted by the POWs.

Not one of the Imperials gave him so much as a dirty look.

They stuffed the POW's into permatemp overflow barracks throughout the base and guarded them as heavily as the Alliance could afford. With the POW's occupying that space, there was little room for the survivors of the four Alliance cruisers. If that weren't bad enough, several other cruisers were so badly damaged that half of their crew needed ground-based residence while repairs were made.

The order came down late in the afternoon to consolidate all remaining barracks tenants. All unoccupied rooms were reported to Barracks Admin. All belongings of the KIA were to be packed for shipment in order to make space. Everyone who could arrange for other temporary housing was ordered to do so.

It was evening again before Mothma gave Luke the direct order to get his leg tended to, and it was after midnight when the med droids released him with the order to go home and get some sleep. Luke was resistant, but too upset to start an argument about it. He didn't realize how frightened he was to go home until he actually got there.

Luke dropped his cane and fell into the couch. He ripped off his lightsaber and commlink upon walking in, and then shed his tunic and yanked out the tails of his shirt shortly thereafter. He pulled his braced leg up with his hands and propped it on the drink table. As soon as that was taken care of, he closed his eyes and propped his temple on his fist, using his free hand to pull away the buttons of his shirt, but he gave up on the whole effort of getting ready for bed before the shirt even came off. He didn't want to go to bed. He didn't want to do anything.

Artoo rolled over, beeping questions.

Luke slowly opened his eyes to him. "Would you get me something to drink?" Artoo beeped something derogatory about not being programmed as a butler, and Luke usually didn't ask him to do stuff like that. This time, he motioned to the limb propped up on the table. "I'm not supposed to walk more than I have to."

Artoo twittered at him and turned away. In a minute, he returned with a blue glass bottle of sweetwater.

Luke sneered at him, "No, Artoo, the sweetwater is for when Kess—

His words faded as he realized what he was saying. The sadness struck his face and formed a lump in his throat. He swallowed hard, but that didn't seem to help.

Artoo was already turning away with the bottle. Luke stopped him, "No, wait. I'll drink it."

He took the thing from Artoo's utility arm and popped it open in thought. The cold of true pain settled into his stomach. He took a long swig of the sweetwater as if drinking something would wash the pain out of his throat.

Artoo rolled backward a little, beeping more questions, but turned away before Luke gave him a response.

Luke could understand about half of what he was saying, which was enough to get the general idea about the other half, and Luke tried to shut him up without having to say the word 'dead.' "No, Artoo, she's not coming over anymore." Luke rubbed his palm over his face. Wording it that way didn't feel any better than if he had just said it bluntly.

Artoo beeped questionably.

Luke stared out the window. The street lamps glowed up into the night, flooding out most of the ability to see the blinking, moving lights of the fleet that had returned to orbit. The overhead light reflected from behind him and Luke focused on his own dim image. It looked like a ghost of himself, like he was the one that died and then returned as one of the Ethereal Dead Jedi Knights.

Luke wondered if Kess would come back and visit him, if she would appear just long enough to say goodbye.

His throat tightened. He closed his eyes. He could hear Artoo's servos whirring back to him. Artoo beeped, but Luke tried to ignore him. He tried not to lose it. He tried to make it all just go away.

Artoo bumped into his good leg, insisting an answer.

Luke pulled his hand from his temple and patted the dome head. He had to say it out loud. He had to accept it, no matter how much it hurt.

"She's dead."

Artoo turned his head more in Luke's direction. Luke felt the metal sliding under his fingers and wished for a moment that he could get an actual hug out of his little friend. He peeled his eyes open again, frowning deeply, and rubbed the whiskers on his chin.

Luke sighed, and propped his temple back onto his fist. "I lost her."

Artoo beeped mournfully.

Luke let out a quivering sigh, and said it again like he had just fully realized what he was saying. "I lost her."

One of the utility arms popped out of a door in Artoo's chest, quietly warbling Kess' name.

Luke impatiently rubbed the wetness from his eyes, annoyed at being so constantly reminded, and held a hand out for whatever Artoo was going to give him. It was a datacard Luke didn't recognize. He brought it to his sights and squinted at the label.

**What not to do while training a (farm boy) Jedi Master.**

Luke dropped his hand to his lap and gave Artoo a bittersweet smile. The droid had good intentions, but Luke wished he had waited until later to give it to him. "This is from her?" he whispered.

Artoo paused before he twittered an affirmative. He swiveled down a little, beeping mournfully and shaking his domed head. Luke reached out and patted him again. Consoling Artoo's preprogrammed sorrow seemed to make him feel a little better, "We'll make it, pal. We always do."

Artoo twisted his optical sensor up to him, gibbering pessimistically and rotated his body to roll away. Luke listened to the droid put himself in the corner, pulled in his third wheel and shut down to standby.

The apartment fell to a lonely quiet.

Luke traced a thumb on the datacard without looking at it. He swallowed hard, and when that didn't work, he swallowed more of the sweetwater. That didn't work either, and he accepted that he would not be able to pacify the anxiety until he read the thing.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself off the couch, and wobbling over to the desk for a datapad and wobbling back to park himself on the couch again. He took a long swig of the bottle and he looked at the handwriting on the datacard, imagining her hand writing it. Hesitantly, he plugged it in; with another sigh, he switched it on; and after a silent moment of trying to find his peace, he looked at the words.

**Ha! I knew you couldn't resist! I left this in your den on purpose!**

Luke covered his bittersweet grin with his hand. He closed his eyes for a good, long, tear-controlling blink, and imagined her voice as he read it. For the moment, it felt like she was sitting right there saying it all out loud.

**So now you know how it feels to have someone writing notes about you and won't let you read them. I doubt you can wait for my training to be over before you take a peek at this. I programmed one of the memory switches to burn the date into the disc. And then I'll have proof! Ha! Your serve!**

**But since you did break down and are now reading these notes. I might as well give you some notes to read. Here it is! My list of the five most important things _not_ to do while training a farm boy Jedi Master.                    **

**Don't train with a hangover.**

**Don't ground his squadron**.    

**Don't under-estimate his restraint.**

**Don't _over_ -estimate his superpowers.               **

**Don't fall for him.**

Luke smiled at the words. He paged down, but there was nothing more. She must've written it awhile back, before she knew about Vader, and probably forgot about it. Artoo ran across it during the two weeks of uninterrupted downloading while they were gone and intended to ask Luke what to do with it.

He gazed over the text again, and reread the five items in the list. She learned exactly what he taught her. He started shaking his head at his biggest mistake of them all.

_Don't._

He could hear the frog-like voice in his memory. _Always so certain with you what cannot be done._

Luke dropped his head against the couch, remembering making out with her on Dagobah. He remembered arguing with her in the managers' office and laughing with her in the clearing. He remembered the only time he woke up with her body in his arms, how he thought he was dreaming and didn't want to wake up. He closed his eyes and remembered every detail he could about that morning. He smiled bittersweet at the cravings that plagued his body.

 _I should've. When I had the chance. I should've_. 

But _Don't_. They couldn't, he tried to tell himself. She had to finish her training. She had healing to do. She had to face her father.

Luke's eyes flew open. _Her father! Somebody has got to tell her father_ _!_

He already didn't want to do it, but it would be inappropriate if anyone else did. And it would be devastating if he tried to wait. Dane Lendra should hear the news from her Jedi Master.

Luke focused on the table in the corner of the room and took a wild guess about which datacard up there was blank. He narrowed his eyes at it, and the thing came flying in the air until at him he caught it.

 _I still haven't accepted it_ , he thought. _I'm not falling apart yet. Might as well get this over with while I still have my wits about me._

Luke pulled the Jedi Master notes from the datapad and put it in his lap. He plugged in the other datacard, deleted everything that was already on it, and scratched his bare chest. He stared into the air for a long minute, licked his lips, blinked a single tear from his eye, and started typing.

**Dear Mr. Lendra,**

**I am writing you with painful news. Lt. Kesselia Kenobi Lendra was killed in action during the Battle of the Line...**

 


	41. LL3 41 Pack Up

** LL3       41        Pack Up **

**CENTAXDAY**

Skirmishes of hate sizzled between the prisoners and angry guards from time to time. Homeless Rebels parked with their giant sea bags along the halls of the barracks waiting for a room to open up. The wounded of both sides filled the medbay on Yavin Base and on the cruisers still in orbit. Moaning bodies lay on the floor in the hallways, everyone that could heal in the barracks was sent home. Only the most critical cases were kept in the hospital. Spouses and their children poked hopefully around at the Pad Complexes, either not having seen the survivor list yet, or not believing it yet.

Every third person Luke saw was angry, crying, or perpetually quiet with shock.

They were hit hard in this one; not like any of the other battles felt any different. Luke thought that maybe it just seemed that way this time because he was hit hard too. Just when he had thought all the unbearable loneliness was coming to an end, when he thought that maybe he could endure the rest of the war in the arms of a woman, the galaxy came crashing down on his dreams, just like it always did.

Luke firmly and forcibly decided that it was a waste of time to try to be human.

Something drew him to her barracks with more that the reason he told himself. He clenched his fist around Yana's commlink as he stepped up to the apartment door. He stiffened his face and made up his mind that he would only be a minute, and rang the bell.

Yana answered with an angry mouth and reddened eyes. When she saw him, she turned away and left the door open for him. Luke clenched his teeth and stepped in. He watched her go back to sitting area to continue cleaning up the usual mess in the apartment. "I came to bring you back your commlink."

He stepped over to the table and focused on the melted gash in the black lacquer for a moment, remembering the day Joanne fumbled with her roommates brand new lightsaber.

He handed the commlink to Yana. "I didn't realize I still had it."

Yana paused before she took it. After a moment, she stuffed it into her pocket and proceeded to carry an armload of things into Joanne's room.

Luke stuffed his hands in his pockets wondering why he didn't want to leave. When Yana came back out, she still didn't look at him. "How's Joanne?" he asked.

"She'll be fine," she said stiffly. "They're going to keep her in medbay for a couple of weeks." Yana paused at her task, putting her hand on her forehead. "They sedated her until they could work on her. She, uh, she took a lot of shrapnel. She doesn't know about Kess."

Luke stiffened his mouth. Kess was dead, but there was a war on. Work had to be done. "Did you pack up her stuff yet?"

Yana's green eyes flicked to him. " _Excuse_ me?"

Luke narrowed his glare at her.

Yana waved a hand at the air. "Can't you wait for her body to get cold?"

Luke shifted his shoulders, "Yana, we have hundreds of troops that need a place to live until we can sort out the mess. You heard the order that came down yesterday. We need to make room to take in the lost assignments. It doesn't matter who died."

Yana looked at him with pained eyes. He was right, but he didn't have to be a shik about it. Yana's nose curled at him. Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper. " _You_ sent her out there to die. _You_ pack her stuff."

Luke jaw clenched and shot angrily. "Fine. Give me a box."

Yana stormed to the other end of the living room, picked up one of the boxes that the housing admin had dropped off and threw it at him. Luke caught it in the air and stomped toward Kess' room. He slammed his fist on the door control.

At the sight of her bedroom, her things, her favorite jacket, her hairbrush, he stopped cold like someone had kicked him in the chest.

Yana watched him stare into the room. Her grisly whisper grated across his neck. "It would have been nice if you started acting human _before_ she died." She walked across the living room to her own bedroom. "Kess was the only one that wanted to see it." Yana closed the door behind her.

 _Kess did see it_ , he thought in defense, but he scolded himself for his mind wandering off. There was a war on. There was work to be done.

He stomped into her room and shut the door behind him, working to keep sight of the objective, he set the box down on the unmade bed, went for the first piece of furniture he saw and started emptying it out.

He ripped through Kess' dresser and wadded armloads of clothes without looking at anything he found. He got another box and tightened his teeth as he loaded it up with little tidbit things that were on the desktop, dresser, and little shelves. Trinkets fell into the cardboard and rattled. He forced himself not to take a sniff at the bottle of perfume. He tried not to bury his face in her bathrobe. He ripped the clothes off their hangers with tears dribbling down his rock hard expression. He packed the shirt she wore when she kissed him on the Frakkan beach. He packed the canvas coveralls he saw her wear every day. He threw the datapads into the box and found a handful of datacards in a tiny stack.

Standard procedure was to make sure that nothing sent home was confidential information. Luke bit his lips together, sat down on the bed with the stack and pulled out one of the datapads.

The first in the stack was a jotted set of directions to the South Base warehouse. The second was a letter to her brother. Luke didn't read it, but he caught the word 'Kenobi' enough to know what it was about. He pulled it out as quickly as the first and threw it into the box. The third was a book on shield physics for X-wings. Luke set the card aside to go back into the fleet library.

He punched in the fourth card with his eyes closed. She taught him to be as human as everyone else, but right now, human was the last thing he wanted to be. When he finally got the guts to do so, he focused on the next card.

It was a letter of resignation dated the night he told her about his father. The next card was one of the Jedi records. He slid that one into his pocket. The next one was a short mail message, not long enough to for anyone to want to keep.

**Lt.**

**The schematic is enclosed. Please be careful with it.**

**I would like to see the results.**

**Skywalker**

His eyes fell closed. His forehead hit the datapad. His chest heaved for air, but he caught it from falling apart. He wouldn't let himself fall apart.

He _had_ to fall apart.

Yana knocked on the door and, after a long pause without a response, she opened it. She looked at him in his frozen position on the bed, his forehead pressed against a datapad, and could only guess what he might have found. "I'm sorry for saying that," she muttered.

Luke swallowed hard. "That's all right." He dropped the datapad to his lap and straightened his back. He sniffed loudly.

Yana brought in a deep sigh. "Can you do me a favor?" She saw him try to glance at her but look away again quickly. "I need a ride back to my speeder."

Luke bit his upper lip. "All right," he said with a hard breath. He stood, looking mechanically at the contents he was trying to pack, but stepped away from the chore and pushed passed her to lead her downstairs.

Yana rode silently in the passenger's seat, a tear still streaming down her own face from time to time. Luke was upset in his own cold Jedi way. He drove slowly compared to his usual speed, watching the familiar path flow around him all the way back to the clearing.

As he slowed down in the last stretch, he saw Yana's speeder in the middle of the dirt road, dusty and damaged from the race through the jungle and the blue paint blackened from dozens of blast shots. Yana looked at it, wondering if she should even bother picking it up, and blew up at her bangs.

Luke caught his breath when she did it. He glanced over as he slowed to a stop in front of her speeder. Passed Yana, he could see the other charred speeder in the brush. He blew out a breath and looked at his lap.

Yana climbed out with a huff. "The damned thing better start."

Luke looked on the other side of the road and saw the beaten path into the jungle to the clearing. He absolutely refused to feel it yet, but the caustic pain was ready to explode. He climbed out of his speeder and strolled towards Yana.

She still had one foot on the dust-covered road as she sat in the driver's seat and turned over the engine. It powered up and powered down. She sighed and tried again. No use.

Luke stepped up the hood with his hands in his pockets. "It came down light as a feather; it shouldn't be having any problems."

Yana thumbed toward the passenger side. "Did any of those shots get through the chassis?"

Luke peeked over and his eyes went wide at the damage. Stepping around the speeder, he reviewed chassis and found that a few shots had busted through. "Yeah."

"Dammit," Yana cursed, pressing her palms to the side of her head. "Next time, we're taking Kayla's speeder!"

Luke rolled a finger in the air, listening to the mechanics. "Try it again."

Yana huffed, put her hand on the ignition, and tried again. It powered up some, coughed, and powered up some more until it was spitting itself alive.

Luke stepped around to her window as she pulled her foot inside and shut the door, then leaned on it with a locked elbow. "Do you remember the way back?"

"Yeah," she curled her lip. "Aren't you going back?"

Luke looked over to the beaten path again and closed his eyes in a silent sigh. "Not yet."

Yana looked, but saw nothing, and looked back at him. His eyes were closed in a meditation, but as she watched, his eyelids slowly started to wrinkle. Yana bit her lips together. "Are you gonna be all right?"

Luke patted the door and stepped away. "Yeah," he whispered it like he wasn't convinced of it himself. "Go on back."

Yana watched him stroll to the side of the road with his hands in his pockets, and she realized he just needed time alone. She put her speeder in gear and pulled it around Luke's, slowly speeding back to base.


	42. LL3 42 Good Bye

** LL3       42        Saying Goodbye **

As the sound of Yana's speeder faded in the distance, Luke noticed that the birds were chirping happily. The wind still rustled through the trees and the sun shined bright green springtime into the jungle, all as if nothing had happened.

After a moment for a deep, determined breath, he walked silently down the trail, sensing the same breeds of squirrels and rabbits scurrying away and getting back to eating as soon as they were a good distance from the human. The brook babbled just out of sight and a floppy-eared wildcat chewed on the grass in the clearing when he walked up.

The cat looked at him, and Luke glared back. After a long moment of intense communication, the cat broke the stare, strolled to the edge of the jungle and dropped out of sight.

 _Don't they know?_ Luke thought childishly. _Don't they realize she's dead?_   

Luke crawled over the fallen log and leaned against it, humbly admitting that the death of one human wasn't going to disrupt the harmony of the jungle. That's why he always liked it here. No matter what was happening in domestic troubles, galactic politics, or _war_ , the jungle always stayed the same. He looked out to the grass where the cat had been eating, where there were once long, quiet talks about old friends and adventures, where more than one dud saber duel had started.

No, the clearing wasn't the same anymore.                    

Everywhere he looked, he imagined her standing there, sitting there, giggling at him, complaining, asking embarrassing questions and arguing unbeatable facts. He saw her in the trees, laying in the grass, sitting on the log.

Luke's knee gave in and his back slid down the side of the log, jerking as he lost his balance and landing on the ground with a thump. There was a hole in his heart the size of an asteroid. He thought about the one brick wall that stood between them the whole frustrating time.

With gritting teeth, he ripped his lightsaber from his belt and threw it as hard has he could into the bushes beyond. Like she did two days ago. _When she told me she loved me._

_She loved me._

Luke stared into the air. Large, clean tears fell out of wide-open eyes.

He could not believe she turned. He would not accept that. No. She died because she was in a no-win situation. She died because she had to put herself in the wrong hands to give the Alliance the information they needed.

She died because he let her go out there.

He wanted to blame it on himself, but he knew that it was just the frustration craving to take it all out on somebody. He kept his wits together as well as he could. The long, death-stinking duties after the battle dragged on for hours upon hours. Pulling maimed friends from the sky, other's frantically searching for their loved ones over the airways…

It was hard to keep the dark side under control for all that. He had to calm himself down every few minutes to keep from ripping everybody's head off.

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat and wiped the tear from his eye.

He remembered the night after the reception, the way she stood there in her apartment, wanting him to stay the night as just bad as he wanted to stay the night. Her cheeks blushed with temptation. The velvet dress was as soft as her skin. The green was as deep as her eyes were brown. Her smile, her clean voice...

_She loved me._

Luke face wrinkled and more tears fell, splashing on his out-stretched leg brace, and disintegrating into his shirt. His chest quivered, his heart sank deeper into his stomach, and he whispered, "I failed Ben."

Then shouted it out as loud as he could, "Do you hear me?! _I failed!_ "

He sniffed into the sky, "Aren't you gonna show up with words of comfort or something? Point out _exactly_ what I did wrong now that it's too late?" He huffed through stiff teeth. "Wh-what about you Master Yoda, aren't you going to come tell me some backwards wisdom?" His head dropped back against the log and clenched his fists until his fingertips turned white. "Or how about an 'I told you so' from my _loving father!_ "

As soon as his growl echoed away, his eyebrows wrinkled. "Isn't someone from the Ethereal Guild of Dead Jedi going to show up and kick me in the stomach?"

His thoughts and his attitude drifted to silence. The birds chirped and the canopy rustled. Life in the clearing wasn't touched by his anger, his pain, or his deeply growing desire to get violent on something. He needed to vent it all, complain to someone who wouldn't take it personally, talk for hours into a caring ear. But the only person he could ever talk to like that was gone.

The anger faded from his reddening eyes. He stared into the air and whispered into the Force, "Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

He imagined Kess in front of him, smiling eyes, dusk-colored cheeks, and braid-kinked golden hair over her shoulders. She was on her hands and knees in front of him, looking the same way she did when she crawled onto his bed in the middle of the night. It was the last time he saw her alive. He had kissed her, held her, prayed for her. And the words caught in his throat.

He smiled sadly at the memory, at the sympathetic eyes of the image in front of him. Fresh tears flowed from his eyes and his sigh quivered. Now, he would never get to say it to her in person. He would never get to touch her face, or run his fingers through her hair. He swallowed hard and whispered to her image, "I love you too."

She mouthed the words back to him, but there was no sound, and she faded from his foggy imagination. The trees focused in his sights, the stream bubbled, the breeze blew through the brush, and the clearing was unbearably empty again.

Luke brought up his good knee and propped his elbow on it to bury his face in his hand. Tears dribbled between his fingers. His chest heaved and shook. He couldn't hold it in any longer. The bottle of contained pain burst open and flowed over him like a tidal wave.

Luke sat in the clearing and cried long into nightfall.


	43. LL3 43 Enviro-suit

** LL3       43        Enviro-suit **

**TAUNGSDA** **Y**

Luke hobbled onto Pad 14 and stepped toward the _Falcon_ as he looked over the group that was no longer his to command. Kayla stood under the cockpit with greasy hands and a trouble expression aimed at the broken module above her.

"Where's Han?" Luke asked quietly.

Kayla wiped her hands with a rag without looking at him. "He went to supply. He'll be back in a few minutes."

"How's the _Falcon_ running?" Luke looked up at the beaten craft.

Kayla sighed. "We'll splice her back together," she assured wearily. "She probably wouldn't work at all if she were engineered right anyway."

Luke granted a tiny grin to that and looked out over the pad again. He saw Wedge and Ashten at the far next to the flight ops cabinet. Ashten wore the mouse ears on her head, monotonously rattling off requests to land large chunks of battle flak from the sky. Wedge stood nearby with his hands on his hips, watching for something about to land.

Luke told Kayla, "I'll be right back," and started to waddle over to Wedge.

Luke passed the X-wings she worked on and passed Rogue Five that he flew. His heart started to sink back into his stomach. It was all he could do not to turn around and go hide in the locker room to meditate for an hour.

He reached Wedge with a grim face. "I heard we lost Teak."

Wedge nodded at the floor but forced himself back to business. He looked out to the open bay doors to watch a chunk of ship lower onto Pad 14 by the grip of a tractor beam. He mumbled it respectfully, but didn't look at his friend when he said it, "I'm sorry about Kess."

Luke nodded and looked up through the open ceiling. "Yeah, me too." He brushed it off with as much casualness as his tight voice would muster. He looked around to the scene of repair engineers that were hanging on battered and beaten X-wings. Rogue Group looked as bad as they did before Kess initiated the ground. Chewie sat on top of the _Falcon_ repairing some of his own damage and Kayla was still underneath the cockpit. Seidrik and Rogan moved around burnt ship parts that had been pulled from the battlefield. They parked, analyzed, and recorded the battle flak, looking to re-obtain any Alliance codes left in ship systems, scrounging for parts in good enough condition to reuse, and pulled out dead bodies to identify and be shipped home.

A noise sounded in Ashten's mouse ears and she brought the mike to her mouth, "Control, Pad 14; copy that." Then she switched. "Seidrik, grab incoming transport chunk and bring down to spot sixteen."

Luke turned to the pad deck and looked out at his old group. The repair engineers who worked close with Kess were just going through the motions now. Some fretted over the loss of somebody closer, but the loss of Kess didn't help. The X-wings that landed on their own were already stuffed in corners, and several pieces of Star Destroyers and rebel craft were slowly being stacked up in a line in front of the far wall. Medvacs still circled the travel way but now were only manned with droids to collect dead bodies from the arriving debris.

What barely resembled an Imperial shuttle slowly lowered through the doors. The two of its three wings were completely ripped from the hull. All that was left was the haze-gray pod and one tall quail-looking tuft top wing.

Luke noticed Han returning to the _Falcon_ with a box full of parts and started to turn away. "I'll let you guys get back to work."

Ashten nodded and spoke into the mike, choreographing the landing of the battle leftovers. The thing landed with an echoing crunch and grunts moved in to pry open a hatch. Seidrik climbed in first, and the echo of his surprise could be heard throughout the pad deck. "It's Kadaan! Kadaan's in here!"

Luke turned back around.

The yelling lowered to a mumbling, and Seidrik talked on his mike to Ashten. The grunts lifted a black shrouded body from the hatch and laid it out on the ground. Rogan stood tall and stepped away, kicking Kadaan's leg before he returned to the busted craft. Seidrik squatted down on his haunches over the body and rummaged through the robes for Kadaan's belt.

"Thank the Force he's dead." Ashten said and then called back into the mike. "How many bodies?"

As Luke watched, he had the urge to go kick Kadaan's dead body himself.

Rogan and the others climbed back into the craft and in a moment was helping three other grunts struggle to remove a second lifeless body in a frozen enviro-suit.

Out on deck, Seidrik rose to his feet after unleashing an object from Kadaan's belt. He turned to talk into the mike back at Ashten and held up his hand to make it clearly visible that he was holding a lightsaber hilt.

Ashten swallowed hard to tell Luke. "Seidrik says it looks like hers."

Luke stared at it for a long beat before shifting his eyes to the body now being carried out of the craft.

"It is hers," he whispered.

Luke felt Ashten's sorrow swell as the crew gently lay the limp, enviro-suited body out on the hangar deck. Whispers rolled through the pad like a sad wave and more were mournfully collecting. Han perked his ears from his work when someone told him. Chewie swung down to climb off the _Falcon_. Kayla turned on her combat boots and marched over.

Luke's heart thumped in his ears as he stared across the hangar deck at the dead body.

He oscillated whether he needed to see her body or not.

Jedi Lendra's dead body.

His eyes narrowed. His lips pressed together.

Luke spat suddenly, "There wouldn't _be_ a body."

Luke shot out across the hangar deck, limping on the cane. Ashten paused, blinked, and was _right_ on his heels. Luke waddled himself into almost a full run, finally throwing the cane away from him. It rattled loudly as it skidded away on the duracrete deck.

The crowd gathered around Kess in mourning. They all look up at Luke's sudden energy.

Luke raced over and fell to his knee next to Han. _"There wouldn't be a body!"_

Han stiffened as he looked to Luke. The Jedi leaned over Kess' waist and frantically tried to pull the clasps of the enviro-suit away. At first, Han thought that Luke was just still in denial. Ice-crusted the powerless enviro-suit. The other bodies in the transport were frozen solid. There was no way she could have survived this. But—

She was a Jedi.

Han looked down at the pale face inside the bubbled helmet and remembered how Obi-Wan Kenobi's body disappeared immediately upon death. Han moved as fast and as furious as Luke did. He scooted his knee closer and started taking off the ice-crusted suit.

The same set of thoughts went through everyone else's mind. The idea of it didn't make much sense, but nothing about the Jedi really did. Within a split second after Han started moving, Ashten's eyes widened and started to pull off the bubbled helmet. Kayla ordered for a set of cutters to get the suit off and Chewie growled at the medvacs to get a sentient doctor over here _now_.

The helmet was carefully pulled from a lifeless face. "Her skin is ice cold," Ashten whispered.

A dozen different hands ripped away the enviro-suit in pieces. Cable cutters and box openers sliced the sleeves from her wounded arms. Kayla reached over with wire cutters and carefully clipped binders pieces from her wrists, piece by piece. Han pressed his fingers into the healthiest part of her limp wrist and breathed. "I can't find a pulse."

Luke ordered violently at bodies who just stood and stared. "Cut the suit off! Warm her up!"

More grunts joined in on the efforts, racing blankets to the sight, and warming whatever part of her skin they could reach with their bare hands. Han rose to his knees and started pressing his palms to Kess' chest. In sync with Han, Ashten pinched Kess' nose and blew air back into her mouth. Chewie hauled over medical kit and Kayla continued to pull away the slices of the enviro-suit from the black shirt and blue hospital pants.

Luke sat on his hip, stretching his braced leg out to the side, and hovered halfway over her waist. He closed his eyes and reached in with the Force. Her conscience was stuffed deep into her soul, but she was still in there.

Kess had stuffed herself into the enviro-suit and turned it on, but slowed her breathing and her pulse to make extended use of the suit's power supply. The suit's emergency homing beacon, set to call for Imperial rescue, was never activated. She must have been extending her time in the suit as long as possible so she could wait for Alliance rescue teams to find her instead. She had gone into a Jedi Trance severe enough to kill her, tucking away every possible life sign in order to extend her life.

Luke could feel her Force Print locked in a tiny corner and he started talking to her, out loud and through the Force, simultaneously. "Wake up, Kess. Wake up. Come out of it."

Han paused from the CPR to check her pulse again. He smiled a sigh of relief, "I got a pulse."

Ashten put her hands on Kess' bluish cheeks to warm them, watched to see if she was breathing, but frantically blew more air into her mouth.

"Kess, I know you're in there." Luke poked his thoughts at the little bubble of life inside the body. "C'mon, wake up!" She wasn't emerging. She wasn't moving.

Ashten felt a faint breeze and looked. A shallow breath blew from Kess' nose. She cradled the woman's head on her lap and smiled up at Luke.

Luke gritted his teeth at all of that. Even if she was breathing and her heart was beating, she'd be dead in short order if her mind didn't come out of its shell to take over the duty of keeping her body alive.

Luke was losing patience. "Kess, don't mess with me like this," he begged angrily. He leaned over a little more, glaring straight at the bluish, motionless face, and growled out a Commander's shout. "Kesselia Lendra! **_Wake up!_** "

_Luke?_

He barely heard it, but her lips had twitched as if she thought she was saying it out loud. He caught his breath and grinned.

Ashten face brightened. "She moved."

Luke dug into her Force print and tried to drag the life out of its shell. He poked at it, tried to grab it, and yank it back alive. The shell wiggled to get out of his grip. Luke let out a quick laugh but wouldn't let the excitement get the best of him. "C'mon," he kept urging. "Come out of it."

He continued to prod at her emotions. He could feel the life stretch and expand, grow slowly and achy back into the body, reaching out to feel for the arms and the legs and fitting back into the places it had resided for twenty-six years already. He whispered anxiously, "Come on. Come back to me."

Her face winced. Her fingers tightened around Han's arm, the cold involuntarily flexing her dead muscle. Her lips parted to bring in a slow gasp of air, the warmth of it stinging her lungs. Her eyes fluttered painfully open. She blinked a dozen times at the fuzzy images and bright lights. She looked right at him without focusing on him at all.

"Hi there," he breathed, giddy, farm boy happy.

Kess closed her eyes again and reached for him.

Luke took her waist and pulled to help her sit up, wrapping his arms around her in the process. Her arms huddled in his chest, she buried her face in his neck and clung to him as though he was the life she almost lost. Her breath was ice cold on his shoulder, but she was breathing, she was moving, she was alive.

Luke gave Kayla one quick, joyful glance. The woman shouted, "Yeah!" Han shot a fist into the air with a wild whoop and the several dozen grunts and pilots joined in, calling out words of victory, whistles, and applause. Pad 14 echoed with the glory of a Victory Day.

In the middle of the fast moving bodies and the loud voices, Chewie's delighted growl and Artoo's singing beeps; Luke held her close and quiet, rubbing warmth back into her torso and whispering into her half frozen ear; thanking the Force, The Maker, Ben, Yoda, Anakin, anybody, _everybody_. Kess was alive.

 


	44. LL3 44 Medbay

** LL3       44        Medbay **

Luke smiled on occasion, sighing out new breaths of relief and paced the floor with his cane in the medbay waiting room. Kayla watched him with a lifted eyebrow, perfectly content to watch Luke fidget. The man would spark with tiny bursts of glee, then his shoulders would relax with relief, and then he would do an about-face for another pace across the lobby floor, worried sick why the doctors were taking so long.

Luke collapsed in one of a line of waiting room chairs and roughly rubbed his forehead.

Kayla glanced at Han to share a smirk. Han propped one ankle on the other knee and shrugged with a cockeyed smile. They were the only three left after hours of waiting. Luke lost count of how many people he was supposed to comm as soon as she woke up. He decided he wasn't going to worry about remembering such protocol until _after_ he got to see her first.

The Nubian doctor came out of the hall with hands tucked into the pockets of his lab coat. The cold expression of mixed news hung monotonously on his face. Luke shot out of the chair and marched up to him, anxiously hopping on his toes. Han and Kayla flanked Luke, listening intently.

"She's going to be fine," the doctor assured first.

In unison, three sighs of relief escaped through three separate smiles, but shoulders stiffened again for the _other_ news.

The doctor carefully and slowly went down the list. "She has second and third-degree burns on her arms. We are going to have to graph synth-flesh onto about three square centimeters un-repairable skin. The surrounding burns will heal within a few weeks. She has a flesh wound on her scalp, but there was no concussion. She has a broken collarbone and, we were able to set it, but we can't afford to fuse it until her circulatory system is back to normal. She caught six pieces of shrapnel on her back and the back of her head, but all came out easily. She has several large bruises, on her left shoulder, hip, face, and a variety of other places.

The doctor took a deep sigh and clarified, "Because of all the bruising and burns, she _looks_ like she just went through the spin mode of a recycle incinerator, but all of this that I've told you so far is minor and she will heal from it just fine."

" _And_?" Luke grunted.

The doctor took a deep breath again, keeping his voice professionally gentle. "I am concerned with her muscular and circulatory systems. Enviro-suit or no, she froze in an oxygen-deprived coma, possibly up to two days. By all text in the medical field, she _should_ have died. But she didn't. Her systems are operating, weakly, but steadily. She's getting scheduled blood and physical therapy treatments to exercise her systems back up to normal function. She needs time, she needs rest, and we need to constant monitor her life signs so we can take action if her systems start failing again." He gave all three of them a parental glare. "No NewsNets. No crowds. No one. The more she rests the sooner she'll be out of critical care."

"How close is she to being out of critical care?" Luke dared to ask.

The Nubian shrugged an eyebrow with his own dose of amazement. "At this rate? _Tomorrow_." His eyes narrowed with confusion. "She keeps going into some kind of a meditative state that's recovering her systems faster than any—

"Yes!" Luke stepped backward and pumped a fist into the air.

Kayla and Han looked back at him. The doctor lifted both eyebrows at the Jedi, "You know what she's doing?"

"Yes!" Luke answered with a smile spread across his face from ear to ear. "That's my girl!"

Kayla snickered at him. Han grabbed his shoulder and shook it with hard delight. All three of them bounced and laughed together, sighing big breaths of relieved air.

After a minute, the doctor gently interrupted, "Um, Jedi Skywalker?"

Luke gave the man his attention but hardly stood still. She was going to live. Anything else, he could work around.

The doctor's eyes met Luke's with sympathy. His voice barely muttered the bad news. "She lost the baby."

Luke's joy dissolved.

" _Baby_?" Kayla's eyebrows shot up.

Luke backed up a step from a sudden lack of balance.

" _What_ baby?" Han asked the doctor.

Luke tried to pull his heart back out of his stomach. Wide eyes were fearfully fixed on the doctor.

The doctor shook his head, "You didn't know."

Luke took another step backward. He dropped his gaze to the floor. He shook his head.

The doctor thought for a second and raised his chin again. "When we performed her first blood treatment, we found a high level of HCG in her system. Females produce the hormone as soon as an egg is fertilized. But when we scanned her reproductive system, she was near the end of a cycle. No live egg was detected. She couldn't have been more than three or four weeks along, so it's possible _she_ didn't know either."

Luke folded his hands tightly together and pressed his thumbs to his lips, turning away from the group. There were only a few possible explanations, and not one of them settled well in his stomach.

The doctor tried to console him. "Miscarriages in the first month of a pregnancy are quite common when the mother's physical state is stressed, but there is _no way_ an embryo could have lived through what she did."

Kayla watched Luke, uncertain what the big worry was. Han eyed Luke's back with a new kind of pride.

The doctor offered, "If you like, I'll do a repro test on her after she moves out of critical care to make sure she can still have children, but there was no damage to her reproductive system indicating that she can't."

Luke shifted his weight onto one leg, looking almost as beaten and depressed as he did when he thought she was dead. He found his voice, but it was as stiff as his jaw. "Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded, "In a few minutes. They're just finishing a treatment now. I'll come and get you as soon as they finish." He raised a single index finger. " _One_ visitor," he told them all. "She needs rest, not crowds. One visitor only until she's out of critical care."

Luke nodded obedience at that.

The doctor paused and then softened his voice, "She keeps floating in and out of consciousness, so I haven't told her about the miscarriage."

Luke bit his upper lip and shook his head, "I'll tell her."

With a polite nod to Luke then Han and Kayla, the doctor turned and left the trio alone in the waiting room.

Kayla stepped to Luke with a reminder. "He said she can still have more."

Han focused on the good news instead of the bad. "And I thought that was just a cover to get her kidnapped. I didn't know you had it in you, kid."

Luke stepped away from them and muttered, "It wasn't mine."

The smile disappeared from Han's face. He glanced at Kayla, and Kayla uneasily met Han's gaze.

Luke's voice was shy and quiet, not wanting to hear the answer but needing one. "Did Kess have a, uh- a suitor?"

"Yeah," she furrowed her brows at him, " _you!_ "

Luke rubbed his hand over his face and sat down in the line of chairs. "Did she spend- 'time'- with anybody over the last few weeks? _Besides_ me?"

Kayla sat down next to him, curling her lip. "Those things aren't one hundred percent effective you know. Accidents _do_ happen."

"Kayla," Luke breathed impatiently, "I never touched her."

Kayla's head rocked back and forth at him. "That's not what _she_ told me."

Luke's eyes shot to her with clear annoyance.

Han sat down on Luke's other side, folding his hands together on his knees. His voice low but casually curious, "Was there something you forgot to tell me about?"

Luke threw another indignant glance at Kayla. "Okay," he nodded admittance, "but I never touched her _that_ _much_." Then he glared at Han's prideful smile, "Shut up."

There were only three possible explanations that he could think of, rather, three possible fathers. Taking the calendar back four weeks would put it right before she found out about Vader. So Kess either had an affair with someone on Yavin Base that Luke didn't know about, she was molested by her father, or she was raped by the Imperials. Not one of those explanations was easy to digest.

The doctor stepped out of the hall. "Jedi Skywalker?" He nodded that Luke could go in.

Luke got out of his chair but paused, staring at the floor. Did he really want to know the answer? Did he have a _right_ to know?

Luke glanced at Kayla. His expression hardened as he admitted to himself that he _had_ to know. Whether he asked now, or he asked later, he had to ask. His feet took slow steps toward the hall. He found his peace and tried to decide the angle with which he should bring it up. He paused again in front of the door, squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and went inside.

Dim lighting shined down from the corners of the ceiling and medical units blinked along two walls of the critical care room. The bed was in the middle of the large floor. Another dim light shined down onto the white sheet. A monitor droid stood to the side on standby mode, keeping the patient under constant surveillance. An IV unit towered over one side of her head, pumping liquids back into her arm. An oxygen unit towered over next to it, gently feeding rich air to her lungs through a tube that lay across her upper lip.

She still looked asleep. She lay prone to ease the pumping of her own blood and grant access to tubes and needles. She was stripped of all clothing and covered with only a single sheet; its top end folded over to lay flat across her shoulders. Her breasts were soft, un-bound swells underneath the smooth cotton. Her hair lay against a naked neck wrapped in a bandage to keep its length contained. White bandages wrapped both forearms from the elbows all the way to her broken fingernails.

Luke limped cautiously over, looking down at her peaceful face. She still looked _dead_. Her skin had a grayish tint to it even where her body wasn't blotted purple and black with bruises. Her cheeks were sunken and her fingertips were shriveled. She looked like she lost twenty pounds. After all that exercise in training, she no longer had twenty pounds to spare. Tiny white bandages dotted her face, neck, and shoulders. With insufficient blood, heat, and weight, she looked almost blue. She looked like they had prepared her body for her funeral.

Luke took in a deep, quivering breath and touched her upper arm with the back of his fingertips.

Her skin was cool, but not cold. Her Force print was sleepy, but not gone. Luke closed his eyes and closed his entire palm softly around her bicep, soaking up the life and meditating in it at the same time.

Her eyes fluttered open. Her lips parted for a shaky breath through her mouth. Luke opened his eyes when he heard it. She was breathing. She was moving. She was alive. Anything else, he could work around. He reminded himself of that, no matter who the father was.

She looked for him slowly. Irises that were once mahogany-colored were now the shade of light oak on bloodshot. But when those weary eyes focused on Luke, they smiled. "Hi," she whispered.

It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Luke settled his hip against the side of the bed and let his thumb brush unspoken thoughts onto the skin of her arm. "Hi," he whispered back, just as weakly.

She closed her eyes slowly, licked her lips, and worked to look at him again. "Did we win?"

Luke let out a quick flash of a smile. It would figure that it would be the first thing she would ask. He kept his voice at a hushed whisper since that was all she could manage. "Yeah. They never made it to Yavin Base." He swallowed hard. "We got hit pretty bad, but we won."

A tired smile crossed her face. "Good." She took a slow breath and her eyes drifted between open and closed. "Girlies okay?"

Luke nodded. "Joanne was hurt, but she's going to make it."

Kess took several long seconds to close her eyes and simply breathe.

Luke brushed her skin of her arm with the back of his fingers and watched.

She pulled her eyes with soberness in her expression now, her whisper slurring. "What's the ship stat on me? Why do I feel like death warmed over?"

"Technically, Kess, you are."

Her eyes move to him for an explanation.

A sliver of the grimness returned to his face. "We thought we lost you when the _Vengeance_ blew. And I guess you tucked your mind away to stay alive in the gunboat. I couldn't sense you. We didn't find you until this morning."

Her brows flicked distantly. "Wh-day zit?"

"Taungsday night."

Her brows wrinkled to calculate the time.

He shook his head. "Even with Jedi tricks, it's amazing you're talking to me right now."

Her eyes looked at him quizzically. "You thought I was dead?"

"We all did." Luke pressed his lips and nodded at her. "You even made the NewsNets." A tear fell into his smile.

She winced, "I'm so sorry."

He shook his head at her apology. "You came back. That's all that matters."

She inhaled through the oxygen tube at her nose as if it were a necessary bite of food. "How long do I have to stay in here?"

She was anxious to get out of medbay even though she didn't yet have the strength to talk. He grinned at that and brushed his full palm on her arm. "You'll stay as long as they keep you here," he murmured, but knew he'd have to give her a damage report on her health to back up that order.

He rubbed his lips together and looked at nothing on the sheet over her body. Luke used the wind-up of telling her about the other damage to collect the courage and tell her about the baby too. He didn't have a right to know. He wasn't her boyfriend, not really, not yet. But he was her Jedi Master, at least currently, he was her Commanding Officer for a while, and he was a close friend, forever. Even if, as those, he still didn't have a right to know, at the very least, he had the right to _ask_.

He told her about the burns on her arms, she only nodded. He told her about the bruises and the broken collarbone. She nodded at that too. It was as if she were remembering the events to cause them as he moved through the list. She took it all face value. He described the damage to her systems from nearly two days in an enviro-suit that wasn't powered on and she grinned a little at that, realizing now why she felt like 'death warmed over'.

Her eyes peeked open at him again, "Kadaan strapped me in to keep me contained," she explained sleepily and smiled, "so I was the only one wearing my seatbelt when it hit." Her weak voice was slurring more and more now. "I must've been quite the popsicle."

Luke flashed a smile, but it died just as quickly. He rubbed her arm and whispered it. "The doctor also said that you had a miscarriage." He swallowed hard and looked for her eyes again, trying to stay brave, but squirming for an explanation.

Her eyes drooped closed. "Damn the bad luck."

Luke pulled his eyes down.

"Cheenan," she whispered so tiredly now that her sentences were coming out in as few words as possible.

Luke's jaw tightened. Flashes of a horrified imagination raged through his mind.

"Surrogate Sith mother," she hissed.

Anger boiled inside of him. He let go of her arm so he could clench a white fist safely against the mattress.

"Artificial insemination," she whispered, groping to pat his hand as if to assure him it wasn't quite _that_ bad.

That didn't make him feel much better. He crooned his neck to face the ceiling, sucked in a loud, angry breath, and gritted his teeth.

"Find your peace," her breathing grinned.

His head dropped and hung from his neck with a reluctant laugh. He looked over at her to find her smiling with tired wisdom about it. She was handling it all better than he was. She was already at peace about the whole thing. A sage smile crossed her pale lips, the color of her eyes darkened when the happiness brightened in her Force print.

When he found her eyes again and Luke laughed inside, deliriously happy, emotionally exhausted, and thoroughly relieved.

She drew in another breath in synch with the oxygen unit and closed her eyes. "Sleep now." She patted the back of his fist for him to go.

Luke nodded. He leaned over to kiss her on the forehead and took one last long look at her before limping quietly out the door.

 


	45. LL3 45 Victory Day

** LL3       45        Victory Day **

With heavy use of the healing trance, Kess moved out of critical care in two days and was in the same medbay wing with Joanne for another week after that. Luke visited often but never stayed for longer than a few minutes. Anytime someone else arrived to visit her, Luke stepped politely out of the way and disappeared as soon as no one was looking.

Kess was too focused on healing to realize it at first. Luke's presence was passive and soothing, but there were no long talks or deep discussions. She never asked if her training was over and he never said she graduated. He simply gave her a ride home from medbay and made sure she had everything she needed for two more weeks of bed rest before he left, including the parts and tools to revert her lightsaber back to traditional function, and a very special datacard.

The moment she turned her attention to the thing, she knew immediately what she was looking at.

**Entry #1: Don't burst into her room without first verifying she's wearing pajamas.**

Kess giggled at the memories as she absorbed it all. It started out as quick notes and references but progressed into more detailed mistakes and thought-out plans of her training, then it gradually drifted into a secret venue in which he could vent. Each entry grew progressively personal and each entry grew progressively longer. Her faced flushed with real embarrassment of things she hoped he hadn't noticed, she slammed her hand over her eyes at his honest responses to some of her mistakes, and her face glowed like the dawn to read entries hinting that he cared for her in return.

The final entry of the journal was dated the night she quit.

**Entry #269: Don't fall in love with her.**

Kess stared at those words for a long time.

Eventually, she chewed on her lower lip and paged down to see what was next. She found only one last page of text, addressed directly to her.

**Kesselia,**

**You were the worst person I could have had for a first apprentice. You were my lab rat. And I knew I would learn a lot by training you but I had no idea how much. I learned a lot about the Force from all those debates, and I learned a lot about teaching from all your mistakes, and near misses, and complaining. But you also taught me how to be human again, and that I could still be human and a Jedi at the same time.**

**It's refreshing to know that. I didn't realize how much I hid behind my lightsaber until you took it from me and threw it in the bushes. I still have to learn what to do when my lightsaber is not there to hide behind, but at least I have a good teacher.**

**I went to order your Jedi Pin at the jewelry store today. When I was waiting for the droid to make it, I looked around at the other stuff they had and saw all those tokens of permanent mates. I wondered if I'd ever get any use out of one. Lo and behold, the droid brought your pin out in a ring box.**

**You said once that you didn't think I was the type to settle down. Just for the record, I am. In due time, I will. And right now, I'm hoping that you're there when I do.**

**Love, Luke**

The usual energy and rebellious attitude of Yavin Base came back to life slow enough to respect the dead but fast enough to meet the needs of the living. The excess fleet eventually packed up their crews and went home, dropping off thousands of Imperial POWs at public stations along the way, and left Yavin Base with most of the same million people it had before. Repair busted their asses to get the fighter groups back on their feet. Pilots pulled in the last of the battle garbage impeding hyperspace. Politicians hurried to attract and secure planetary systems that the Imperials left behind. It was widely whispered amongst the ranks that, with so many Imperial losses at the Battle of the Line, the Military Council was knitting together plans to advance with the final capture Coruscant before another leader emerged at the Imperial Palace.

All this new energy came to a happy hush at the dawn of Victory Day, but everyone on Yavin Base was still so busy with clean up and healing that there wasn't enough time to put up a substantial holiday. Still, someone from the Council Building collected a committee to set up a carnival-like picnic on the green grass between Pad Complexes. Some folks from the trenches made sure there was enough alcohol for a party at the South Base Warehouse. Someone from Green Group sent up a couple of fighters to throw out fireworks. And Chief Commander Mothma arranged for a medal to hang on the chests of a few girly girls during the mourning ceremony.

As many Rebels packed into the Grand Cathedral as would fit. Speeches respected as many religions as they could within an hour, collectively honoring sacrifices and rejuvenating resolve. Many smiles graced the Cathedral when the girlies marched down the center of the crowd. There was a happy tone in Mothma's voice and a warm applause when she draped the brown ribbon over three heads. But there was one hell of a cheer when Luke pulled his hands away from the new pin on Kess' collar and let her turn around.

Cheers turned to chatter when everyone was dismissed. Several dozen people waited on the sidelines to congratulate Kess personally. At Leia's request, the Jedi did their obligatory rounds through the social arenas of Victory Day. They carried on through the quad picnic, meeting, chatting, joking, bowing, saluting, and shaking hands. It was all mildly pleasant and _too_ well-behaved. By external observation, Luke and Kess looked like they didn't care, that they weren't in any hurry to get anywhere, that they were just fine to be pestered by friends and dignitaries all day long.

When they had a chance to step aside and eat a late lunch from a tent-booth in the quad, alone but in public, they exchanged grinning glances from time to time, but didn't talk.

They didn't need to.

Kayla, Yana, and Joanne started to worry that something had gone wrong. Han, Lando, and Wedge were convinced that it was just nerves. Leia assured them all that it was just their Jedi patience, that everything was fine, and to 'shut the hell up before they hear you.'

About an hour before sundown, when Leia found them momentarily separated, she invited Luke to bring Kess over for the family Victory Dinner, but hoped he would decline in the wake of a previous engagement.

Luke declined.

And the only reason he gave her was a grin.

 


	46. LL3 46 Speechless

** LL3 46 Speechless **

"Well, you requested _alone_ ," Luke said as he came into the barracks and flipped on a corner light. "On Victory Night, this was the best I could do." He threw back a shrug and washed his hands in the tiny kitchenette.

Kess closed the front door behind her. All the celebrating going on throughout the base right now sent a soft buzz on the Force. Leia and the gang surely noticed by now that the Jedi disappeared from the picnic without saying goodbye. Hiding in his apartment on a first date felt like they'd been stuffed into a closet at a school party.

But being alone in his barracks with him wasn't new. The only thing unusual about this was the fading dusk out the window. Usually, Kess was leaving about now, not arriving. She stepped to cold storage, pulled out a blue bottle of sweetwater, and dropped her hip against the counter as though she was waiting for the first instruction of the day.

Luke pulled out bowls and utensils, boxed ingredients, packaged raw meat... He said nothing. He hardly looked at her. Kess swigged the bottle, flipped loose hair over her shoulder, and waited in an anxious quiet. She didn't need to open her senses to feel that the butterflies were raging in his stomach too.

Without looking at each other, they shared an uncomfortable grin and moved on.

They managed to change into civvies earlier in the day but, naturally, still carried their lightsabers. Kess' blue bottle paused at her mouth to notice it still hanging from his hip.

Luke saw her attention snag but didn't stop his work at the counter. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and watched to see what she would do.

Kess set down the bottle on the counter with an audible _clunk_ and stomped to his side, ripping the hilt from his belt like she was mad at it. He didn't stop her. His humor spiked when she left with it, yanking hers from her own belt and set them on the farthest table in the corner she could find.

Luke grinned at her back and calmed his nerves as he returned his attention to his cooking.

Kess stepped up to the counter and looked over the ingredients. "Sulferian Meat Sticks?"

"Yeah, why not?" Luke shrugged. "Little bit of home." He grabbed the bag of breadcrumbs and started to pour. "But this isn't the recipe you're going to find in any box meal. Aunt Beru knew how to throw a kick into it. Hope you're hungry."

Kess rolled up her sleeves and washed her hands so she could help. "What was she like?"

Luke did a double take. "Who? _Beru_?"

Kess nodded, guarded, bracing herself to be denied as she usually would be. But brown eyes sparkled and purred. She was testing the waters deliberately. On the Force and on his expression, it was clear the flavor of the question didn't slip by him unnoticed. He fought a grin, handed her the other bowl and the meat so she could work her half of the project and turned his attention back to his.

"She was the gentlest soul I've ever known," he finally said, "until I was in trouble," he smiled, "And then she was like a sandstorm you couldn't get away from…"

Luke let the words flow like water and Kess lapped it up. They talked about sand people and stormtroopers, A-wings and androids, and nothing about the Force. They bumped elbows and brushed each other 'accidentally', but that wasn't new either. Luke worked on whipping up a thick batter as Kess worked on mixing up the ground meat and the innocuous chatting shattered when Kess pulled her hands from her bowl and grabbed his wrist before he dashed a spice shaker into the batter.

He froze.

Luke grinned strangely at the slimy, meat and spice covered hand now wrapped around his wrist. He lifted his brows at her.

"No seagan spice," she told him, letting go. "I'm allergic to it."

"Allergic?" He stood up straight again and started putting the tiny bottle back. "What happens if you eat it?"

"I lose my voice."

Luke angled his head at the spice bottle, considering this at length.

She elbowed him.

He stomped around her to the sink with playful complaint, "Why didn't you tell me this _before_ you started training?"

The open laughter helped beat back some of the nerves but not as fast as they multiplied. The pair moved with adult synergy to prepare the meat sticks for baking, but they fumbled like pre-teens trying not to blush at unintentional sexual innuendos the other had uttered. It was as if they had to get to know each other all over again, for Luke was no longer hiding behind his Jedi façade and Kess was no longer _dead_.

The strawberry soda fizzing through the Force all night didn't help either.

Kess slid the platter of raw meat sticks into the little barracks oven as Luke set the auto-stop timer per Beru's precious recipe. They grabbed a new pair of sweetwaters as they sat down in the living room to wait for dinner. Complaining and laughing, and working hard not to meet each other's eye, he kicked his boots up onto the drink table and relaxed back on his couch with a stretch. Kess kicked her civilian boots on to the table next to his and popped open a new blue bottle. They sat nearly hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder, but that wasn't new anymore either.

Luke squinted at the white dot glare in living room window, then crooned his neck and reached a hand over his head. The far corner light blinked out.

As many times as she'd been here, Kess couldn't remember ever seeing his place this dark. Her eyes snuck over to joke at his maneuver. "Are you about to make a pass at me or something?"

"No," he blurted as if the idea was absurd and motioned to the window, now with the night sky visible through the transparisteel. "The fireworks are about to start, " he explained, then he elbowed her when he realized her wisecrack.

"You can't see the fireworks from this direction," she tittered meekly.

"What?" He squinted out the window. "You can't?"

"No. They drop them over the quad." She pointed around her own neck to the other direction. Kess glowed openly to watch his confusion, to watch his brows knit to think out the mundane details of this. "The quad is west of here. Your window faces east."

He shook his head. "I swear I saw fireworks out this window last year."

She set her bottle down on the table by her feet. "Who did you watch the fireworks with last year?" Kess immediately wanted to yank that question back again, but he answered too fast.

"Artoo."

Kess looked. He shrugged. She turned farther to glimpse at the droid's designated corner. "Where is he now?"

Luke shook his head at the night sky, speaking low and quiet. "I don't really care." He chuckled at his own admission, trying not to laugh only because cheeks hurt from smiling so much today.

Kess started to chuckle with him— but her breath stopped short when his hand secretly snuggled into her palm and gently blossomed, scary and slow, until his fingers tangled loosely into hers, holding hands.

 _This_ was new.

She exchanged the secret hug only enough to express her approval of it and rested her cheek against his shoulder. Luke lightly brushed the back of her thumb with his own for a nervous moment. Then he sighed loud, shaky, and deep, and dropped his head back on the couch with a weak smile at himself.

Kess snuggled against his arm the way she always wanted to, holding his real hand the way she always wanted to. She closed her eyes against his shoulder to open her mind and feel the syrup swirling around them in a luxurious peace.

Distant explosions began to pop in the sky outside, on the _other_ side of the building.

Luke lifted his head to look out the still empty living room window with a nod. "Ah, well, the fireworks have started."

Her voice was sneaky. "Oh, now if just holding hands makes you see fireworks, son, you are going to be a dead man by morning."

Luke exploded with a silent laughter. Kess cuddled into his arm and giggled tightly. Both faces blushed bright pink at all this, at this exquisite comfort, this gorgeous peace, this delirious joy… the only noise was the distant pops of fireworks in the unseen sky for several serene minutes.

"I don't remember the score," she finally whispered, "but I believe that makes it your serve."

"My serve now," he muttered back with a mature nod. "We're back on this game, are we?"

"Well, yeah. It's the only game I can win against you."

"That's only because I had a handicap before."

"Before what? At what point did you stop being a blushing farm boy?"

"I am hardly the blushing farm boy you think I am."

"Well, _that_ sounds like a challenge."

"It's not a challenge; it's a fact."

"And yet, I'm still talking…"

"For the moment."

"That's because you're still trying to think of something clever to say."

He said nothing for a moment as if he were trying to think of something clever to say, and just when Kess began to grin and claim the point, he turned his chin to his shoulder and put his mouth against her temple with barely a whisper. "I love you."

That sweet fuzz flowed over her on the Force like a gentle wave of water, rendering Kess motionless with intoxication. Pops and whistles sounded in the far away sky outside. The oven clicked quietly as it heated. After a long beat of this gurgling giddiness, Luke cuddled a smug grin against her hairline, "Your serve."

She snickered and turned to him with feigned anger, but he gripped her hand and trapped her arm from striking. Kess tried to reel in the emotion so she could glower at him nose to nose, but that didn't work so well. He met her eye with easy pride, keeping his mouth shut so she could serve at her leisure. He flicked his brows in satisfaction at his own victory.

As soon as they settled, she responded, low and smooth. "I love you too."

"Yeah, I know." He pretended to shrug it off even though the glow was clear on his face. "You said that already."

Kess burst into movement trying to whack him. Luke yanked back both of their clasped hands from between them so he could and grab her other hand out of the air before it struck. They fought and struggled for a split second until he had a good grip on each of her hands, holding her arms out at bay on either side of her. Half turned to her now, they froze again, nose to nose, on his couch, in the dark… Luke's stomach suddenly flipped with terror.

Kess saw it as clearly as she sensed it and, for a moment, she smiled at it. "Is it still my serve?" She whispered as she approached his mouth.

He smiled at the humor for only a split second before the kiss hit him like an illicit drug.

Luke inhaled in her scent as he tasted her mouth. Kess snuck her hands from his grip so she could slide her arms around his shoulders, practically pulling herself onto his lap. Veins went hot when warm bodies pressed. Electricity sparked between exploring tongues. Fingertips snuck to the edge of shirt fabric for the skin underneath. The kiss ended as slowly as it had begun, leaving them equally stunned. They looked at each other through half open lids, catching their breath in each other's mouths. The intensity of the moment melted away into that tingly soda again. Heartbeats fluttered, breath shuddered, and–

The oven beeped once that it was done, and shut itself down.

Kess smiled into his mouth with a taunting victory. "Two, one."

He could still feel the echo of her caress inside of his mouth when Luke smiled a trembling voice. "That's a hell of a serve."

Boldness glinted in her libidinous gaze, "Think you can beat it?"

A new heat lit up in the liquid blue of his eye. Parted lips and bated breath hardened his intent. The deep stare and a feather touch empowered it. Their lips folded together… and folded together again. He took her mouth in slow, sweet moves, nurturing every delicious moment until they were kissing deep and full all over again.

His hands pulled her in by the ribs. She combed her fingers into his hair and pressed her body against him. Hot palms smoothed up her sides with thumbs outstretched to reach soft mounds under her blouse. Every move was meticulous, delicate, and direct. Skin tingled, breath quickened and passions began to bubble over. The Force sizzled like lightsabers crashing together.

And Luke proceeded to render Kesselia speechless without uttering a single word.

* * *

 

End Book 3

Thanks for reading,

~Cass Eastham


	47. LL3 47 Bonus Chapter / Mature

** LL3 47 Bonus Chapter / Mature **

Luke _shuddered_.

His forehead glistened with beads of sweat. A drop trickled down his temple only to be absorbed by his darkened hair. He blew out a controlled breath to cool his hard pumping blood. The Force rippled over him, finishing a tidal wave of tingles over every centimetre of his skin as it dissipated into nothing. The eruption of blackened passion was already dissolving, like a storm blown away by a new day, leaving only the bright, clear peace of nature.

He blinked to gather his wits, now that it was over, and gently pried her stabbing fingernails from his naked chest.

Kess collapsed onto his body like a wet blanket, huffing for breath into his neck. Her pulse pounded in her temples like she'd just run twenty klicks.

Luke dropped one free arm on the bed over his head, nearly laughing in his breathless panting. "I think I just turned to the dark side."

Kess exploded in a voiceless laughter into his neck.

After a moment of feeling her body quiver with laughter on top of him, Luke allowed a weak laugh for himself. He wiped his palm over his face and swiped away the ticklish sweat on his brow. His pulse was slowing by the second.

After a moment, her head popped up in annoyance. Her smiling face bleated as if angry. “After all that? After all that _wait_? All the _frustration_? _That's all you have to say_?"

Luke chortled at her. "I wasn’t hardly as frustrated as you were!"

She straddled him and wrinkled her nose into his face. " _Bullshit_."

With that, she peeled herself off of him like damp cellophane, fell onto her back and climbed off the bed.

Luke rolled up onto one elbow, whining loud. "What am I supposed to say?" He watched her naked body walk away. He waved his free arm in the air at her and shouted, "Miss I-Have-Years-Of-Experience!"

She thumbed the lavatory door without answering but shot a glare at him before she disappeared. Luke tried not to grin at it. She wasn't upset; not in the slightest. Acting that way must have been some mating ritual rule he was yet to be educated about.

Luke fell back onto his bed again and sighed up at the ceiling, wallowing in fresh, fuzzy memory of what just happened... and realized again what just happened.

His smile pressed closed into a worried scowl.

Kess returned a minute later, still naked, and crawled back on the bed to him. "You are supposed to say something like, 'That was awesome.'" She suggested playfully, settling her body to spoon along the side of him. "Or 'why did we wait so long?' Or, my personal favorite, 'Let's do that again!'" Her voice was bright and quiet voice, playful as always, hardly worried about anything.

Luke eyed over. "I didn't hear any of that come out of you."

"You interrupted me."

"I see." His voice grinned deep with incredulity. He rolled to his side and propped his head in his palm, eyes shining to see this naked woman in his bed.

 _Finally_.

Kess rested her ear on a folded elbow and brown eyes shined back.

And then he could sense it: she was reeling from this monumental event just as he was. _That's_ what the playful anger was about. She was keeping the ball of conversation bouncing so that the air in the room didn't have a chance to grow thick and scary.

But in this silent stare, with the weight of all the rules and regs finally lifted –Master/Apprentice, Commander/Lieutenant, and all of the complications in between— a new weight of responsibility, of the unknown, of the severity of all that could go wrong _now_ settled over the two of them like a Sith Stone.

She swallowed hard, staring at him like she was scared of him all over again. Or maybe, scared _for_ him.

"What?" He murmured, wanting to get her to talk, wanting to remind her it was okay to talk.

About anything.

Her eyes seemed to sadden. He could feel her fresh uncertainty wafting through the Force. She just stared at him, like she used to, in the beginning. Not seeing Luke, not seeing a farm boy, or a pilot or even a rebel. Her eyes only saw the Living Legend and grew humble in his presence.

Luke again realized how much of himself he'd been hiding from view all this time, and how she grew respectful not to penetrate the shield that he constantly shoved into her face.

He settled his ear onto his folded elbow beside her and used his free hand to brush his thumb down her lips. "I wanted you from the beginning."

"Liar," she smiled, eyes brightening again. "You couldn't stand me in the beginning."

He could only smile. "What I couldn't stand was you fighting it the whole way. Every step you fought training was one day longer before we would be here."

_Here, in this bed, in this romance, in this pillow talk…_

She seemed to absorb that as a compliment. "I still think you're lying."

He shrugged a brow. "I admit I was too focused on keeping my cool to know it at first." His eyes trailed away to the dark ceiling to think back on it all, but flicked back down to her as if realizing again she was finally there. "You taught me a lot."

"So your notes said." Still, her eyes shined, even in the darkness, even in the quiet. Humbled or no, Luke could sense it on the Force and on her face: there was no place she would rather be.

She shifted her head on her elbow, "So where does the training go from here?"

"I thought that was your call now," his tone shifted back to playful, " _Master_."

She giggled and threw a pillow at him. Luke brought his hands out to block it before it landed, but he didn't fight too hard when her body rose out of the bed to stand on her knees, plummeting him several times. Luke laughed, cheeks pink, pretending to try to grab her wrists and stop her, but she overtook him and straddled his naked waist again.

Damn the bad luck.

The Force blushed and swelled like a pulsing red/black volcano. Luke could only look up at the woman that pinned him, weakly giving in to the hands that kept his wrists against the bed over his head, and just glowed up at the growling face that hovered, nose to nose, over his own.

"Tag," she said, her smirk spreading. "You're it."

Luke didn't laugh. He didn't smile more than he already was. Not really. There was nothing funny about it. There was nothing light-hearted about it. This wasn't faint, or shallow, or passive, or peaceful. It was the furthest Luke had ever traveled from the light side of the Force.

And he didn't care.

Luke slid in his 'pinned' wrists so he could weave his fingers into hers. With a new fire in eyes, his body rose with easy strength and deftly rolled her over, tumbling onto her like a soft avalanche.

A tiny voice in the depths of his subconscious screamed at him to check his own senses, to notice what he was doing, to figure out where he was wandering in the grand scheme of All Jedi Things…

…but Luke thoughtlessly drowned out the voice with a silent roar of new passion as he pulled her knee around his hip and slowly nailed her to the bed.


End file.
